This is a place holder review of the Mortal Engines movie. 

Making movies is a risky game. For the studios, it's a numbers game. The successful movies fund and offset the duds.

But no movie is going to get a green light if it's a dud. So at the face of it, a love story set against the back ground of a post apocalyptic Earth where the remaining humans live on giant traction cities that eat other for precious resources in some kind of zero sum game called Municipal Darwinism perhaps does seems like it has dud potential (in they eyes of a risk adverse studio exec anyway).

That is until Peter Jackson steps up to the plate along with his off sides, Fran Walsh and Pippa Boyens. Just a trio from New Zealand that have more Oscars between them than most major Hollywood production teams.

And so, with a bit of American cash and some Kiwi splash, Christian Rivers was unleashed to direct the adaption of Reeve's YA novel.