Logan Sork Film Reviews
Alita: Battle Angel
Manga and Anime adaptations have never translated well into Hollywood productions. In some cases, they have produced some of the worst movies ever made. The trailers for this movie didn’t help either as they showcased a rather strange approach by having our lead character looking like a giant CGI doll. So, needless to say, I wasn’t looking forward to this film. Having seen it now, I can say that I was pleasantly surprised as Alita: Battle Angel is a narratively flawed yet visually stunning film with a good heart and plenty of interesting ideas, even if they aren’t as well developed as one would hope.
Alita: Battle Angel is directed by Robert Rodriguez and produced by James Cameron and is based on the Japanese manga Gunnum by Yukito Kishiro. The film is set three hundred years after a post- apocalyptic event follows Alita (Rosa Salazar), a cyborg that has been reawakened by Dr. Dyson Ido (Christoph Waltz), who found her in the trash heaps beneath the floating city of Zalem. Alita awakes with her memory wiped and has no idea of who she is or what her past life was like. While exploring the streets of the run-down Iron City, she meets Hugo (Keean Johnson), a boy who sees her as someone special, prompting Alita to search for her memories of what she was. Meanwhile, the ruler of Iron City, Vector (Mahershala Ali), recruits various parties to hunt down Alita, seeing her as an item of interest to his mysterious master.
One of the things that initially turned me off from this movie was the main hero being entirely CGI with giant eyes. The character’s overall look was so uncanny at first glance that I didn’t think I would be able to take her seriously, seeing as she’s not even a real person. Thankfully, the visual effects team managed to outdo themselves, because Alita is one of the most groundbreaking creations in cinema history. The visual effects on her are absolutely breathtaking, with every movement and facial expression rendered beautifully. There are moments in the film where (aside from her giant eyes) Alita looks and acts like a real person would. Not only does she look photorealistic, she is able to stand beside her human counterparts and not stick out like a sore thumb, it’s that impressive. The rest of the visuals are also very good, with some great set pieces and exhilarating action sequences to boot, but it’s Alita’s design that serves as the crown jewel for this visually spectacular film.
Of course, if there wasn’t a good performance for the visual effects team to work with, then Alita would be nothing more than a computer-generated image with no soul. Rosa Salazar brings the soul to this character and gives a heartwarming and powerful performance as Alita. Not only does she convey a bright-eyed naïve attitude for Alita, she also balances that with the warrior aspect of her character, switching beautifully between the two in a moment’s notice. The supporting cast is also very good, with Christoph Waltz playing a kind yet complicated father figure who teaches Alita what it means to be good in a world filled with violence. Mahershala Ali is also excellent as the film’s villain, bringing an over-the-top yet serious vibe to his character. Th other supporting cast members, including Keean Johnson and Jennifer Connelly are also good.
The film is also ambitious not only in its visual style but also in its storytelling. There are a lot of ideas gestating in this film. These include themes of embracing who you are, loving someone who is different and fighting for what’s right while also juggling social issues such as class divisions, technology vs humans, violence in sports and other things. While it may seem like a great idea for a film to have so many ideas behind it, sometimes those ideas cannibalize each other, resulting in a negative impact to the stories narrative. There are points in the film where you wonder how this is all going to connect in the end, and sometimes these connections are weak or don’t happen at all. The characters are also impacted by this, as they aren’t able to spend enough time with each one of them to warrant their inclusion in this big narrative It’s not to say that it’s bad or uninteresting, it’s just that the narrative could’ve been more streamlined if the filmmakers weren’t concerned with getting every idea on the screen. Had they stuck with one or two big ideas, they would’ve had more time to explore each one fully.
Despite the narrative flaws of the film, I will give credit for ambitious ideas, and this film is the embodiment of ambition. Packed to the brim with ambitious ideas, interesting characters and spectacular visual effects, Alita: Battle Angel is both a welcome change of pace when it comes to standard blockbusters and a cinematic milestone in terms of visual effects. If you can get past the uncanny valley of a computer-generated protagonist, you will surely find something to enjoy in this visually stunning adventure.
7.5/10