Jason Christian B.

Lumaya 03/08/2023
BSN 3A STS 101- 80959

SUMMARY:

The “Mortal Engines” is a movie that basically revolves around a dystopian future
where cities are literally mobile and compete with one another for resources. The
film is set on a planet where civilization has collapsed as a result of a catastrophe
known as the "Sixty Minute War," which resulted in enormous earthquakes and
volcanic eruptions. The few remaining people created "Traction Cities," which
can move on wheels and are movable cities. A system known as Municipal
Darwinism emerged as more cities were founded. Municipal Darwinism holds
that the larger cities, which it refers to as the predators, might hunt the smaller
ones and scavenge their resources in order to survive. This is basically a much
destructive tive version of Charles Darwin's Natural Selection Theory in which
only the strong and dominant survive and protract. The narrative centers on
Hester Shaw, a young lady with scars and a desire for vengeance who joins
forces with Tom Natsworthy, a young historian, to prevent the influential city of
London from utilizing a potent weapon that has the potential to wipe out whole
cities. A person named Valentine assembled their superweapon, Medusa, and it
started to wreak havoc. Along the journey, they run across a rebel organization
lead by Anna Fang and learn of a dark conspiracy that imperils humanity's
destiny. Hester finds a kill switch for Medusa hidden in the necklace. In the end,
Tom saved Hester, and the city practically crushed Valentine.

INSIGHT:

If we are to break down the essence of the movie, it is basically insinuating or

suggesting that technology is a double-edged sword. Technology is indeed
something that could potentially benefit us by making our lives easier and
making things that were once considered impossible possible. Or could be
manipulated by such individuals to promote and actualize their selfish and
iniquitous plans which could be detrimental to the welfare and even threaten the
lives of other people. In the film, it could be observed that advancements in
technology paved way for unequal distribution of wealth. The rich kept on getting
richer in resources whereas the underdeveloped or “inferior” cities are getting
poorer and more vulnerable to the predation of the much more advanced cities.
This is reflected by how one of the notorious cities, London, destroy others for
their own selfish gain and progress. In the setting of the movie, it could also be
observed that among the most affected is the environment. Land, water, air
pollution is so prominent and depletion of natural resources seemed to not bother
the residents anymore. Third, it was depicted in the movie that advancements in
technology could negatively impact interpersonal relationships. The mobility of
cities has made it difficult for individuals of distant origin to form stable
communities and social structures as they are literally always on the move to
adapt to new environments. This is reflected by how at some instance, Tom,
Hester, Anna and other characters were struggling to form relationships and
attachments rooted from genuine trust. In essence, the movie is a great reflection
of how technology is so volatile that it could easily steer the course of our future
depending on how we optimize it. For example, during the Cold War, a lot of our
technology goes into weapons of mass destruction. If it had happened, there’s a
huge possibility that these weapons procured from advancements in technology
could recur, get out of our control, and threaten the life of our planet and
humanity. We should be maximizing this privilege passed down from us by our
brilliant predecessors to promote order, pave way for innovation, and inspire
aspiring inventors to construct inventions that would further ameliorate the status
quo and pass down a world we’ll be proud to bestow to future generations.