Directed by: Robert Rodriguez
Release Date: January 31st, 2019
Rating: 7/10
Alita: Battle Angel is a movie that took me by surprise. From the trailers and the fact that it was delayed for so long, I expected it to be another early year dud. However, it has a story that is followable, visual effects that are iffy at worst, and acting that is believable. Basically it’s watchable. So I give it credit because my expectations were extremely low to begin with.Â
Story-wise the movie plays like a young adult novel to me. I know it’s based on a manga, but I never read it so, to me, it reminds me of a book I would’ve read when I was 13. There are about 3-4 storylines going on but they never really give focus to any of them. I feel like they were setting up something to go a certain direction, then once it gets going they switch it up to a different storyline and you’re left thinking that the previous plot point wasn’t stressed enough. Visually the movie really surprised me. I thought that everything would look like it didn’t belong and that the faces on some of the cyborg characters would look photoshopped on to a computer-generated body. Mostly, the film does a great job in creating this dystopian city. Alita especially looks very good, even with the exaggerated eyes. The film’s ending seems very abrupt to me. Without spoiling anything, they very much set it up for a sequel and I don’t know if it will get one. I was expecting it to go for a half hour longer when the credits started rolling. Alita: Battle Angel is a fun movie that is better than I thought it would’ve been. It’s nothing amazing, but it’s entertaining enough for me to watch it all the way through.