Watch the First Trailer for Peter Jackson’s Post-Apocalyptic Epic ‘Mortal Engines’

It’s like ‘Lord of the Rings’ meets ‘Mad Max.’

With Mortal Engines, it’s easy to see that Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson is back. Visually amazing landscapes straight out of a painting, and in the middle of all that, war.

In this trailer we get our first look at Jackson’s welcome return to the screen, and if you haven’t watched it yet, beware: as impressive as it looks, the plot elements introduced in two minutes and thirty seconds may prompt a serious WTF.

The movie is based on a sci-fi dystopian novel by English author Philip Reeve. Here’s the synopsis:

Thousands of years after a cataclysmic event, humans try to survive on a planet where gigantic moving cities ruthlessly prey upon smaller traction towns. When Londoner Tom Natsworthy encounters the dangerous fugitive Hester Shaw, he soon finds himself forging an unlikely alliance that changes the course of the future.

Gigantic moving cities. Let’s be real, there’s something a little absurd about seeing London barreling across a blighted landscape on tank treads. But if we accepted dragons with Benedict Cumberbatch‘s voice, we have to be fair and give this insanity a chance. 

Mortal Engines premieres December 14.