"Alita: Battle Angel" is the new sci-fi epic from director Robert Rodriguez and is written by James Cameron. It features Alita (Rosa Salazar), a cyborg who is picked up in a scrapyard in the futuristic Iron City by Doctor Ido (Christoph Waltz). He repairs her but she has no memory of where she cam from and she believes she came from Zalem, the city in the sky so she tries get there but runs into trouble along the way.
The more and more footage I saw of "Alita: Battle Angel" from trailers, behind the scenes, and TV spots, I was really looking forward to it after initially thinking it was gonna be some sci-fi throwaway movie. I also had no idea that it was based on a Japanese manga of the same name until I had seen the movie. I left the theater a bit disappointed. I felt as if the movie was a bit uneven. There's no doubt there's a lot of good in the movie, but it leaves a lot to be desired. It's a very surface level movie, and given the talent in front of and behind the camera, that's not good when a movie like this costs $200 million to make. I didn't find myself invested in any of the characters except for Ido. Even Alita doesn't have much character development. She doesn't learn much about herself throughout the movie, though she is a likable action hero and is easy to root for.
The central romance set up in the story makes no sense. The entire thing feels like a distraction. The movie is entertaining enough where most of the flaws can be passed by, but then it cuts back to this romance and it feels so tacked on. It was an element of the movie that didn't have to be there. The villains were also very weak. Vector (Mahershala Ali) is very weak. He's a corporate baddie with sunglasses and a business suit. THAT'S. IT. The henchmen are no better and this film cannot figure out which henchmen/bounty hunters it wants to focus on. Three times, THREE, Alita fights the same character. It felt like I was playing Super Mario 64 and I had to defeat Bowser three times. The screenplay became so muddled trying to balance all of these villain elements out.
The biggest issue I have with this film is the fact it is sequel bait. The entire third act is all set up for a sequel that we don't even know will happen. I get it's based off a manga and that there are big name filmmakers working on this project, but you can't bank on that to deliver a sequel. The film has to make money, earn good word of mouth, and get a least decent reviews. It seems everything in Hollywood movies nowadays is just there to be setup for sequels.
There are good things in this film too. The visuals are SPECTACULAR, some of the best visuals I've ever seen in a movie. And it makes the action set pieces standout a lot more, which are very entertaining and fun to watch. Though I wanted more of this sequence, the Motorball sequence had me on the edge of my seat. There is also an action sequence towards the middle of the film that I really enjoyed. The film offers entertaining sequences where you can sit back, relax, stuff your face with that buttery popcorn, and have a good time. It is also a movie that sets up its world very well. The rules, laws, background, all of it, is very cool and very well done. But unfortunately the movie as a whole is just middle of the road. It has lots of surface level stuff, and that's a damn shame.
I am going to give "Alita: Battle Angel" a C+.
The more and more footage I saw of "Alita: Battle Angel" from trailers, behind the scenes, and TV spots, I was really looking forward to it after initially thinking it was gonna be some sci-fi throwaway movie. I also had no idea that it was based on a Japanese manga of the same name until I had seen the movie. I left the theater a bit disappointed. I felt as if the movie was a bit uneven. There's no doubt there's a lot of good in the movie, but it leaves a lot to be desired. It's a very surface level movie, and given the talent in front of and behind the camera, that's not good when a movie like this costs $200 million to make. I didn't find myself invested in any of the characters except for Ido. Even Alita doesn't have much character development. She doesn't learn much about herself throughout the movie, though she is a likable action hero and is easy to root for.
The central romance set up in the story makes no sense. The entire thing feels like a distraction. The movie is entertaining enough where most of the flaws can be passed by, but then it cuts back to this romance and it feels so tacked on. It was an element of the movie that didn't have to be there. The villains were also very weak. Vector (Mahershala Ali) is very weak. He's a corporate baddie with sunglasses and a business suit. THAT'S. IT. The henchmen are no better and this film cannot figure out which henchmen/bounty hunters it wants to focus on. Three times, THREE, Alita fights the same character. It felt like I was playing Super Mario 64 and I had to defeat Bowser three times. The screenplay became so muddled trying to balance all of these villain elements out.
The biggest issue I have with this film is the fact it is sequel bait. The entire third act is all set up for a sequel that we don't even know will happen. I get it's based off a manga and that there are big name filmmakers working on this project, but you can't bank on that to deliver a sequel. The film has to make money, earn good word of mouth, and get a least decent reviews. It seems everything in Hollywood movies nowadays is just there to be setup for sequels.
There are good things in this film too. The visuals are SPECTACULAR, some of the best visuals I've ever seen in a movie. And it makes the action set pieces standout a lot more, which are very entertaining and fun to watch. Though I wanted more of this sequence, the Motorball sequence had me on the edge of my seat. There is also an action sequence towards the middle of the film that I really enjoyed. The film offers entertaining sequences where you can sit back, relax, stuff your face with that buttery popcorn, and have a good time. It is also a movie that sets up its world very well. The rules, laws, background, all of it, is very cool and very well done. But unfortunately the movie as a whole is just middle of the road. It has lots of surface level stuff, and that's a damn shame.
I am going to give "Alita: Battle Angel" a C+.