As a longtime massive fan of the Battle Angel manga (a.k.a. GUNNM), which I consider a masterpiece and my favorite comicbook of all time, this movie gets full approval from me. This is a superb adaption that largely faithfully recreates what made the original manga great, a perfect coupling of badass sci-fi action with a story that's full of heart. It's clear that the people behind the movie, notably James Cameron who made sure to secure the movie rights himself because he loved it so much, are fans of the original work as well, considering their care in preserving what made the original manga work so well.
This movie looks great, from the well-shot action scenes - with, thankfully, none of the disorienting rapidly-edited shaky-cam that plagues too many action movies these days - to the superior quality CGI that seamlessly blends what's real with what's not. Director Robert Rodriguez handled all this well.
I love that Alita is a character who defies the conventions and clichés trending now in recent movies, as embodied by the currently popular superhero genre, because Alita is not some defender of justice who simply fights the bad guys for the sake of the innocent or anything like that. It's more like she doesn't really know what she's fighting for and that's what makes her such a compelling, complex character.
I love that this is a movie that dares to take itself and its own themes and story seriously at a time when the most popular comicbook-based and/or sci-fi type movies are afraid of taking themselves too seriously these days, as most prominently evidenced by Disney's Marvel & Star Wars movies, with their constant stream of silly humor, like they're winking at the audience every few minutes, reassuring us they're not taking themselves too seriously. I'm glad Alita: Battle Angel does not adopt the silly tone that's become standard today. Unfortunately, it's this reason that I'm afraid the rotten critics with their rotten ratings are being unkind to Alita, like how dare something in the lowly sci-fi genre aim to be something greater than it deserves. If you like the critic-friendly Disney style of treating everything like a silly lighthearted joke, feel free to side with the rotten critics, but if you can appreciate a story that dares to be serious, give this movie a chance. You will love it.
This movie looks great, from the well-shot action scenes - with, thankfully, none of the disorienting rapidly-edited shaky-cam that plagues too many action movies these days - to the superior quality CGI that seamlessly blends what's real with what's not. Director Robert Rodriguez handled all this well.
I love that Alita is a character who defies the conventions and clichés trending now in recent movies, as embodied by the currently popular superhero genre, because Alita is not some defender of justice who simply fights the bad guys for the sake of the innocent or anything like that. It's more like she doesn't really know what she's fighting for and that's what makes her such a compelling, complex character.
I love that this is a movie that dares to take itself and its own themes and story seriously at a time when the most popular comicbook-based and/or sci-fi type movies are afraid of taking themselves too seriously these days, as most prominently evidenced by Disney's Marvel & Star Wars movies, with their constant stream of silly humor, like they're winking at the audience every few minutes, reassuring us they're not taking themselves too seriously. I'm glad Alita: Battle Angel does not adopt the silly tone that's become standard today. Unfortunately, it's this reason that I'm afraid the rotten critics with their rotten ratings are being unkind to Alita, like how dare something in the lowly sci-fi genre aim to be something greater than it deserves. If you like the critic-friendly Disney style of treating everything like a silly lighthearted joke, feel free to side with the rotten critics, but if you can appreciate a story that dares to be serious, give this movie a chance. You will love it.