Alita: Battle Angel is a 2019 live-action adaptation of a classic manga series from the 1990s about a cyborg trying to figure out her mysterious past.
Honestly, live-action anime films are not so good … Anime is a hard thing to adapt on the big screen, but Hollywood is still interested in making more for some reason. We have movies like Dragonball: Evolution and Death Note to prove this fact … To continue this never-ending trend, we now have Alita: Battle Angel from director Robert Rodriguez and producer James Cameron. With two talented filmmakers handling this project, this should be a good movie, right? Based on the manga series from the 1990s titled Battle Angel Alita, the story follows a cyborg named Alita (Rosa Salazar) who’s trying to figure out who she is and learn more about her mysterious past. Dr. Dyson Ido (Christoph Waltz) eventually decides to take care of her in order to protect her from Vector (Mahershala Ali) and his bounty hunters.
Visually, the film looks absolutely spectacular! The world inspired by the manga is beautifully shown throughout the movie, and you can tell the filmmakers are really passionate about the source material. It’s a very stylish flick with fantastic action sequences and impressive special effects. You’re going to have so much fun seeing Alita fight bad guys, because the cinematography is top-notch. Whenever there’s a fight scene happening, the cinematographer does a spectacular job filming it for the audience to enjoy. The director is known for having entertaining action sequences in some of his films, so he’s able to showcase his unique filmmaking style in Alita as well. After bringing the visual look of Frank Miller’s graphic novel Sin City on the big screen, it makes sense that Cameron thinks Rodriguez is the right person to direct the film. When these two filmmakers work together, you know you’re in for something special.
Salazar does a great job as the titular character, and her motion capture work is also quite magnificent. It’s usually hard to imagine a CGI character coming to life in live-action, but she is still able to give her lots of humanity and heart. While Alita herself is definitely one of the best parts of the film, sadly her love interest Hugo (Keean Johnson) isn’t all that compelling. Their chemistry is noticeable at times, but it’s just his acting that comes across as very bland and uninspired. His arc is the weakest part of the entire movie, and you won’t care about him at all. Also, some characters are just useless, and you’re wondering why they’re even there in the first place.
The first act does a great job setting up the world of Alita, and the finale is quite intriguing. However, the pacing during the second act drags at times, because it’s filled with lots of exposition and convoluted dialogue. Some scenes do feel rushed and underdeveloped, and you wish the filmmakers would have found a better way to properly incorporate them into the narrative. Also, there are times we see flashbacks of Alita’s past, but they don’t really develop her character all that much. You might think those scenes are important to the story, but you can just cut them out of the movie.
Alita: Battle Angel is a highly entertaining and visually stunning flick with amazing action sequences and a great performance by Salazar as the titular character. While any movie will have flaws no matter what, it’s still important for the filmmakers to showcase their passion and reason for making it in the first place. It also proves that a good live-action anime adaptation is possible when it’s in the right hands. It’s definitely one of the most unique cinematic experiences ever.