Alita Battle Angel features dynamic action sequences, top-notch special effects, and an impressive performance by Rosa Salazar. I just wish it was a little bit better. Then I’d be certain that it would find its audience, make a ton of money and get followed-up with the sequel it wants and deserves.
Beneath the floating metropolis of Zalem is Iron City, where cyborgs are common but the streets are rife with crime. Cyberphysician Dyson Ido (Christoph Waltz) comes across the remains of a female cyborg and rebuilds her. Alita (Rosa Salazar through motion-capture) begins living a normal life, even developing a crush on Hugo (Keean Johnson) but her penchant for confrontation leads everyone to wonder what kind of being she was before her memories were wiped.
You won’t have trouble adjusting to Alita’s unusual facial features while watching, as her world is full of bizarre people. Many of Iron City’s denizens don extra arms, engorged bodies to accommodate weapons, blades instead of hands, wheels instead of legs or tentacles-like appendages. Rosa Salazar also helps enormously. You like Alita’s child-like enthusiasm, her seemingly immature, enhanced emotions and her thirst for combat. She’s an active character you’re excited to follow - who knows what trouble she’ll get into next. The tiny powerhouse takes you off guard with her ferocity and fighting prowess. What made her the way she is now?
At the same time, there ’s an emotional disconnect here. Relationships come off as a little cold and some are missing just a little bit of something for you to fully latch onto them. There’s so much going on in this picture with the post-apocalyptic setting, gladiatorial-style games, forgotten history, numerous mysterious characters, you wish some of this had been left out. I don’t believe these issues would be present in a sequel, however, as the groundwork’s been firmly laid.
Ultimately, it’s the visuals and action sequences who reign supreme and boy do they. Whether Alita’s raging against the mechanical monstrosity Grewishka (Jackie Earle Hailey), proving her mettle against Hunter-Warriors, eyeing the explosively-paced Motorball players or looking for someone stupid enough to pick a fight with her, it gets you fired up. You can see all of Yukiro Kishiro’s original designs coming to life but the screenplay by Laeta Kalogridis also knows when to deviate to make it even more cinematic.
I’m going to settle on a 3/5 rating. I’m enthusiastic about it, want to see a sequel and find it sorta revolutionary in certain aspects. What I don’t want to do is overhype Alita Battle Angel. I want you to go in and be pleasantly surprised. It sounds like a backhanded compliment, but it isn’t. I think many will love Rosa Salazar’s spunk and Alita Battle Angel as a whole. (3D Theatrical version on the big screen, February 16, 2019)
