Martin Bartlett

Only got 30 minutes into this film, lots of critical elements were missing. Spectacle was important and not delivered, the city-creations lacked scale or movement (a shaky-camera shot of someone pulling steampunk levers does not offset this requirement). The plot was weak, and tepid to the point of some fear to keep this movie appealing to parents of tweens. Minor peril was felt even when individuals fell into eternal pipes and regurgitated into the wastelands of the post-apocalyptic Earth or Caterpillar tracks mercilessly crushing helpless Bavarian villages. And that's the end of the good bits. The acting performances were lame, I mean really bad. Looks like Hugo Weaving has a little bit of fun in an under pressure Middle Management politics role, but Robert Sheehan appeared to be delivering his lines with the convincing thrust of CBeebies Bedtime Stories. I regret not meeting Shrike, other than being hung from the back of a prison ship in a metal box. He may have been good but my time on this movie ran out well before his introduction. Snog, marry, avoid? I snogged with my eyes open and now I'm not returning their calls.