Mortal Engines

Going in: Expect this to be like the Hobbit: visually stunning but pretty flat. I went with my friend Dan knowing it probably wouldn't be great.

Popcorn: 5/10. Despite low expectations, this movie even failed those. This started out really well and then about halfway through, it unraveled. Even with Asperger's, I could tell people weren't behaving the way they would normally. My friend and I - about 4 or 5 times towards the end - threw up our hands at the same time and then turned and rolled our eyes.

Art: 5.5/10. Great visuals, but a horrible story. I think the premise had some decent potential but just fell apart the last half of the movie.

Acting: 2/3. This was okay work. The only person I recognized was Hugo Weaving. Some of the actors were good, others were just okay.

Music: 2/2. I have to say that the music was good, especially the theme song for the London city. I recognized it throughout the film and while it wasn't John Williams good, it held its own fairly well.

Filming: 1/2. Nothing spectacular here. It's an apocalyptic so everything was gray. I didn't see a whole lot that was noteworthy.

Art Dept: 2/2. As expected, spectacular effects. In addition, the costuming and set design was pretty eye-catching. A lot of great work here.

Editing: 0/2. Okay. There were three times when I felt nauseous because the editing was cut so fast. Once I can tolerate but three? Come on son!

Story: 1/4. I hate ragging on stories. I think people underestimate how hard screenwriters have it, often not realizing that what the screenwriter wanted was thrown out a long time ago. But this was awful. The first half was good, but it turned emotionally flat. I went from no longer caring to looking for things wrong. I know this is a fantasy future, but people have to react emotionally like they would today. These didn't. If I can see that social rules aren't being followed, it's going to be ten times worse for the average audience.You also can't put in reveals that have no weight on the story. There were just so many things that made me feel annoyed.

Directing: 2/3. The visuals were well put together but the story was pretty bad. They kind of balance each other out so I'm not going to do too much with it.

Production: 1/2. I think this could've been a great movie but it just didn't have the right team assembled.

Orthodox thoughts (major spoilers):
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The theme of this movie is about technology: embrace it, don't embrace it. There's mention of the future versus the past, about moving on. Of course, this comes from the villain who's secretly building a super weapon so you have to think about it from that perspective. Given Hester's need to move on from her vengeful quest (which she doesn't), I think it tends to be more about moving on.

And that's where I want to focus today. There's a balance between the past and the future. You can't dwell in the past, but you still need to learn from it and adapt accordingly. I've done some pretty rotten things in my life and I have no problem realizing that I did them. The response I get from people is that I need to stop being a wuss or that I'm not that bad and I need to move on.

But those rotten things helped shape me into who I am. Some have impacted me but I'm still dealing with. Some I'm ashamed of and have completely run away from. Others I'm unaware of. There is no problem accepting that what I did was wrong. I've changed my behavior. I wouldn't have changed it if I didn't deal with what I had done.

Because of that acceptance, I don't understand why people tell me to move on. I think they want me to just ignore it. Say it didn't happen and deal with the "now". The problem I have is that the "now" is informed by the "then". I don't hold on to what I've done, but I do accept it. I can't pretend it didn't happen. Ultimately, moving on doesn't mean forgetting what you've done. It means accepting what you've done and, as long as you're moving away from it, forgetting the shame.