Alita: Battle Angel is a 2019 American cyberpunk-action film based on Japanese manga artist Yukito Kishiro's 1990s series Gunnm and its 1993 original video animation adaptation, Battle Angel. It was directed by Robert Rodriguez, produced by James Cameron and written by Cameron and Laeta Kalogridis.
I'll admit I'm not a fan of the Alita and I haven't watched
the animated OVA until last year. In fact this review was put on a backburner
for a while that I almost forgot to do it. Still to make up for ignoring Battle
Angel Alita for so long I did watched the OVA before doing this review so I'll
have a more understanding of things. Anyways let's get on with the review...oh
and also minor spoilers ahead.
In a dark dystopian future, cyberphysician Daisuke Ido comes across the remains of a female cyborg, who is still alive while scavenging the Zalem dump heap for useful parts,. Ido takes her home and decides to restore her. But this female cyborg whom he names Alita is destined for much more. And enemies both cyborg and otherwise wants a piece of her for one reason or another.
The plot of Alita Battle Angel pretty much
follows what the original animated OVA was all about with some major changes
namely expanding the back story of Alita which was barely touched upon in the
OVA. Sure the animated movie did took some liberties here and there but the
changes does work and makes Alita a more rounded relatable character as far as
a fish out of water cyborg with super enhanced parts can get.
Sadly the movie fails on establishing Alita and
Yugo's connection as the film seem to rush this aspect of the story focusing
more on the action and battleball sport thingie they have going on. While the
OVA showed some time has passed and Yugo and Alita developing feelings for each
other the movie seem to fast forward or skip it all together. When the third
act rolled in I barely feel any emotional connection at all which was one of
the selling point of the finale. An issue they could easily fix with just additional
five minutes of footage.
Character development though the film does a decent job at developing Alita and Ido as why both of them do what they do. Like why is Ido so overly attached to Alita for one despite her being just a cyborg he just found in the dumps. We get why Alita is so special and why a lot of people wants to come after her. Even the bounty hunters they introduced just for the film felt fresh. They could probably add another half hour more of the movie just to explore each of the bounty hunters more and I'd probably be ok with it.
The action and special effects is basically the icing on the cake. The world felt realistic and lived in that you wish the movie have dealt more on exploring their world. The fight scene is well executed with every move done well that you can clearly see what is going on even if the characters are racing down a street or fighting in a dark alleyway. In fact the action and the world building alone is enough of a reason to watch this film specially when your into cyberpunk and dystopian settings.
Sure it still does takes a while to get used to Alitas doll eyes specially when all the other cyborgs seem to have normal eyes. I guess the producers wanted to look unique. Still these are minor complains considering how well they did on the movie despite what little source material they had to work with from the manga and the anime OVA. Sure not everyone might like these changes but it still gave a solid story. Also the robot decapitation might not be for everyone.
Overall the movie Alita: Battle Angel is an
interesting new take on the Battle Angel OVA as it expands on the narrative and
character development that the anime had. Sure it does has its minor
shortcomings but it's still a very entertaining and surprisingly well done
movie. If you are a fan of Alita then you should definitely have to see this
one at least once. if your fan of cyborgs and movies with a futuristic them
then you should give this film a go.
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