ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL (2019)

3/5/19 - Alita: Battle Angel (2019) - 4+/5-/10

This film has a smorgasbord of problems. Tinker toy complex script, satin thin characters, and alternatively great/uncanny valley bizarre CGI, but the overall product was a watchably fun-ish big sci-fi spectacle. Is it good? NO! But it wasn’t particularly bad. Perhaps I am too much of a fan of the manga that it is based off of to succumb to the problems baked in this cyborg pie, but I had a decent time letting it reign down it’s mechanical wrath upon me.

Alita’s biggest problem is its flimsy and jumpy plot. It takes a variety of plot points from the manga, slaps them all together, but without the time to breath they need to or the necessary muscle to flex. They often felt a little hollow and told, not shown. A perfect example of this is her pleading to a group of lawbringers, preaching community, solidarity, and necessity. Unfortunately, it comes out of nowhere, both she and the audience no none of them, and we are lacking the conjoining material that is provided in the comic version of this story. In the film, it felt like they edited out a more full and explained scene. This wasn’t in isolation as much of the key plot elements just lacked a sincerity and development to work beyond their surface story necessity.

On the positive, in general, the film looked quite good. The creation of this world, their adherence to the visuals of the manga inspiration, and the CGI work was top notch. Alita’s specific presentation was, in general, of the highest quality. It made me question whether it was a blend of CGI and live action. Of course, that sometimes lead me to peering in that uncanny valley, where I had trouble figuring out what was real and something felt off. This would also happen when the lip sync was slightly askewed, just taking me out of that, but I thought the team creating her were outstanding. The fight scenes had that manga/anime vibe and tended to work. There was a little fatigue, which can come with the unstoppable super fighter that doesn’t have the same limits that keep us lowly humans on the ground, but it didn’t derail enjoyment. The coolness prevailed in general.

Overall, I had a decent time in the theater. It will require some doing to wow you, but with low expectations it can deliver serviceable sci-fi adventure fodder. I liked the expressive Rosa Salazar (Alita, herself). Her working gave this film at least a footing to kick off from. Waltz, Connelly, and Ali are there. They are fine, but none of them are really allowed any depth, nuance, or abiding necessity. This is a movie driven by the action and the spectacle, for better or worse. It would have been nice to have some real feeling attached to those moving parts, but there is still joy to be found in the ride.