Listen to Your Friend Peter Jackson, He’s a Cool Dude (VIDEO)

Following his back to back botching of King Kong and The Hobbit, I don't have a lot of faith left in Peter Jackson these days. Ironically enough, as he's gotten skinnier in real life, he has become the king of bloat on screen, stretching films to epic lengths despite not having quite enough subject matter to fill such exhaustive running times.

The good news is that pudgy Peter Jackson is back, meaning that his latest endeavor—next month's Mortal Engines—might be bringing things back to a more manageable length. Despite being front and center for this new featurette, however, Jackson didn't direct the film. That honor goes to storyboard artist turned first time director Christian Rivers.

Jackson co-wrote and produced the film, though, and his WETA Workshop is responsible for crafting this epic new world that Jackson promises is the "beginning of a saga." As this film is based on the first in a series of books by Phillip Reeve, it's conceivable that should this film miraculously become successful, there are plenty more stories to mine for future feature films.

There's some cool looking stuff here, but it reminds me too much of a Wachowski production: Hugo Weaving and a bunch of no-name actors stand around looking menacing while amazing visual effects fly by the screen. I don't see this landing with audiences, at least not in America, but stranger things have happened.

Mortal Engines rolls into theaters across North America on December 14, the same day as Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and The Mule.