For those who aren’t aware of what Manga is it’s a form of
comic book developed in Japan that’s fueled by colorful art and normally has
adult themes. It’s become quite popular since its inception and influential in
comics in this country as well. While many Manga have been turned into animated
films few have transferred into reality based films. That all changes with
ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL. I should say somewhat changes because computer animation
is still to be seen here. But it combines seamlessly with real footage to make
an interesting, exciting and adventurous movie that most will enjoy.
The year is 2563 and its 300 years since the Earth was
devastated in an all-out interplanetary war. In this post-apocalyptic world Dr.
Dyson Ido (Christoph Waltz) roams the junkyards for parts for his cybernetic
customers, people whose limbs have been replaced with robotic parts. He comes
across a cybernetic body with a human brain still intact and takes it home to
attach to a body he has there. He names the cyborg Alita after his deceased
daughter.
Alita adjusts quickly to her new body though she has no
memories of her past life. She meets a mysterious woman with ties to Ido named
Dr. Chiren (Jennifer Connelly). Wandering the streets near where she lives with
Dr. Ido she meets Hugo (Keean Johnson) a streetwise young man who dreams of
getting off planet to the sky city above, Zalem. To fund his way there he
steals cyborg parts he sells to Vector (Mahershala Ali), the head of the most
popular game on the planet Motorball. The game consists of cyborgs battling it
out on a track and Hugo takes Alita to see the game.
One night after noticing Dr. Ido sneaks out after dark Alita
follows him. She discovers that he is secretly a hunter-warrior, someone who
hunts down rogue cyborgs with a bounty on their heads to fund his hospital.
Wounded by Grewishka (Jackie Earl Haley), one of those he’s come for, Alita
steps in and instinctively knows how to fight the attackers using a long
thought extinct battle form. Taking out two of the three attackers, the third
returns to his employer, Vector, and is repaired and upgraded by the doctor
Vector uses, Dr. Chiren.
Wanting to help the doctor by becoming a hunter-warrior too
he tells her no and to stay home. Like any young person she ignores his
instructions and goes out to register on her own. Searching the nearby
junkyards Alita comes across a body there, a Berserker, one of the bodies used
by the United Republics of Mars (URM) during the Great War. She urges Ido to
transfer her mind into it but he refuses.
Knowing that Grewishka will continue to seek out Ido Alita
heads to a nearby bar where the hunter-warriors hang out. Picking a fight with
the most infamous member there she nearly defeats him before Ido steps in and
puts an end to it. Her goal was to recruit the hunters to take down Grewishka
but before she could round them up the bar is attacked and Alita damaged.
With no choice Ido transfers Alita into the Berserker body.
The technology even stuns Ido. Still alive and in love with Hugo who has now
changed his ways, Alita is more determined than ever. Armed with the new body
and still motivated to face off against the evil Grewishka, she enters the
Motorball game. But Vector has something in store for her that may stop her
before she has a chance to put her plan in motion.
ALIST: BATTLE ANGEL combines some amazing storytelling with
the most astounding visuals seen in some time. The film doesn’t depend solely
on those visuals though and instead intertwines these two items to make a tale
that you will find yourself involved in and waiting to discover the outcome of
while ignoring the remote control, never wanting to fast forward past any eye
catching moment. It’s rare that the combination of storytelling and effects works
so effortlessly and yet director Robert Rodriquez has done just that. But then
he has the experience to pull this off having made SIN CITY and the SPY KIDS
movies.
The acting here is much better than one would expect as
well, including that of Rosa Salazar as Alita. In spite of the fact that her
performance is CGI rendered had she not brought Alita to life through her
acting abilities the character would have fallen flat. Instead she gives it
substance.
I know of at least one person who’s not a fan of science
fiction that said she loved this film. My guess is that everyone who has the
chance to view it will do so as well. By the end credits it’s a film that you
hope will find its way to becoming a franchise with new adventures for Alita to
experience. If not at least this one will satisfy those of us who have become
fans.
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