Movie still from “Alita: Battle Angel.” Credit: Courtesy of TNS
The film “Alita: Battle Angel” is an action-packed fantasy that follows the journey of a cyborg named Alita, who is given a new beginning. This movie is based on the manga “Gunnm,” also known as “Battle Angel Alita,” written by Yukito Kishiro. The movie’s screenplay was written by James Cameron and Laeta Kalogridis, and it was directed by Robert Rodriguez.
The movie begins with the rebirth of Alita after a part of her is found in a scrap yard by local doctor and cyborg repairer Dr. Dyson Ido. The film follows her journey of discovering who she was in her past life and what her new life holds for her.
The movie stars Rosa Salazar as Alita, Christoph Waltz as Ido, Mahershala Ali as Vector and Keean Johnson as Hugo, who all turn in phenomenal performances.
Salazar truly shined as Alita. Even though the movie is filled with large amounts of computer-generated imagery and special effects, her acting rings through. Overall, her performance makes the plot and futuristic world seem believable.
Another notable actor in the movie was Ali, whose performance was interesting to watch as one of the few non-CGI characters. Although he didn’t physically stand out next to the amazing CGI characters, his acting as the villian commands attention. In addition to the acting, the realistic fight scenes are exciting to watch because they were seamlessly put together.
The movie’s plot is mesmerizing and although it is such a fantasy-based plot and setting, the way it is produced and executed made it realistic.
One complaint is the way that Alita is written stereotypically as a girl who falls for the first guy she meets and constantly sacrifices everything for him. It slightly deterred from her overall empowered warrior image.
In addition to the amazing plot, the special effects are spectacular. There was an extreme amount of attention to detail throughout, whether it is a mechanical vein throughout the body of a background character or the body details of Alita. A lot of CGI and special-effects movies fail because of the strange effects but this was definitely not one of them.
Though her eyes are very large and jarring in the beginning, they aren’t as noticeably distracting as the movie progresses, and the rest of the film’s effects help keep the viewer captivated.
Overall, the casting was spot on and Salazar made an incredible Alita. The plot is incredible and set itself up for a sequel that would be awesome to watch. It is a fun, action-packed movie that is a must see.
4.9/5
