Universal has released a new batch of TV spots for their upcoming epic film, Mortal Engines. The movie comes from producer Peter Jackson who we, of course, know from the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films, and in these spots, they are pushing that name and those films front-and-center in their advertising.

Rather than focus on the characters, they have continued to shift their focus on the Mortal Engines world, emphasizing the cities roaming around on wheels, looking to devour others. It’s a cool concept, to be sure, but I’m not sure it is really working in their favor as much as they think. Their desire to paint this new world feels a bit desperate to me, and seems to only highlight its shallow nature that they don’t really want to emphasize the characters too much.

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But take a look at these four new TV spots and judge them for yourselves!

Hundreds of years after civilization was destroyed by a cataclysmic event, a mysterious young woman, Hester Shaw (Hera Hilmar), emerges as the only one who can stop London — now a giant, predator city on wheels — from devouring everything in its path. Feral, and fiercely driven by the memory of her mother, Hester joins forces with Tom Natsworthy (Robert Sheehan), an outcast from London, along with Anna Fang (Jihae), a dangerous outlaw with a bounty on her head.

Mortal Engines is the startling, new epic adventure directed by Oscar®-winning visual-effects artist Christian Rivers (King Kong). Joining Rivers are The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogies three-time Academy Award®-winning filmmakers Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, who have penned the screenplay. Visual effects are created by a Weta Digital team led by Ken McGaugh, Kevin Smith, Luke Millar and Dennis Yoo. The Universal and MRC adaptation is from the award-winning book series by Philip Reeve, published in 2001 by Scholastic.

Mortal Engines hits theaters on December 14, 2018.

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SOURCE: Universal