Alita:Battle Angel, A Review

Image from
IMDB.com

This weekend my wife and me went to see Alita, the new Robert Rodriguez/James Cameron movie based on the manga, Battle Angel: Alita. It stars Rosa Salazar, Christoff Waltz, and Jennifer Connelly, all of whom did an amazing job. Ms. Salazar was particularly good in portraying the cyborg, Alita. I say this as a long time fan of both the manga and the anime. Her ability to go from childish wonder to battle-hardened berserker was nothing short of fantastic, and really sold the role.

The story stayed mostly true to the one I remember from the manga (I have to re-read them asap), which is a cyberpunk twist on the Pinocchio story (kind of), and was a thrill to see on the big screen. From start to finish it enraptured me with its intensity. Not only was the film visually stunning but the characters were well written and compelling. I was with Alita every step of her journey of self-discovering and realization. I felt her pain, her frustration, and her joy as the movie progressed. I wish more sci-fi was this well written.

Mahershala Ali gives a (as usual) mesmerizing performance as Vector, and showed why he won an Oscar and is in the running for a 2nd. (Also, watch True Detective this season, it's amazing).

Alita took #1 at the box office this weekend with a 27.1 million dollar take (source: IMDB.com), though it did open on Valentine's Day and so the total money made so far is over 30 million. Given that it had a 200 million dollar budget to make, it seems in jeopardy of not making its money back. I'd hate to see this happen since, a) I'd like to see a sequel, and b) it would be a shame to have another Dredd situation where the movie is excellent but people only discover this when it's too late.

I highly recommend Alita, tell your friends, go see it in droves. It's well worth it.

Image Credits: Small poster: IMDB.com, Trailer: YouTube/20th Century Fox