Directed by Robert Rodriguez and produced by James Cameron, Alita: Battle Angel is a visually-striking adaption of a popular Japanese graphic novel. Set in the far future, the movie follows the story of a doctor played by Christoph Waltz who finds a scrapped warrior-cyborg in a trash dump and attaches her to a new body. Throughout the film, this cyborg named Alita is on a mission to find the truth about her past life and her purpose in a weird world.
Starting off with what I liked about the movie, the visuals are off the charts and definitely some of the best I've seen in a while. There are several moments throughout the film where I got some Star Wars and Blade Runner vibes as the world introduced is one of advanced technology and various cultures. As some one with no knowledge of the source material, I was definitely intrigued by how the futuristic, dystopian world operated.
Unfortunately, this movie never really taps into its full potential and I found myself disappointed at some missed opportunities. To put it simply, this movie has more eye-candy than substance. In fairness; however, the action scenes are incredible and despite all the half-humans, half-robots, the visuals hold up and are believable for the most part. I was skeptical about a CGI main character in Alita, but it surprisingly worked well and proves that going forward more of this is possible.
The movie as a whole tries to be epic and tries to sell the audience on big pay-offs when it really doesn't deserve any. The glaring issue for me was the lack of emotional-grounding as I failed to connect and become invested in any of the several relationships put on screen. There were a few moments in the film that definitely broke the surface a little, but those were few and far between. It makes me wonder what this could have been if James Cameron had directed it instead of making four Avatar sequels.
As for the villains, many of the side ones are cool and threatening but by far one of the most disappointing things in the whole movie is the wasting of Mahershala Ali. If there was a power-ranking of actors right now, Ali would be at the very top. Unfortunately, he's completely underused in the movie and quite frankly, the only thing I learned from this is that he would make the perfect Blade for the MCU (sorry Wesley Snipes).
As for the rest of the cast, most of the actors were underutilized or just out of place. For example despite the high-caliber acting level of Christoph Waltz, I didn't buy him as a doctor who turns into a bounty hunter with an ax at night. It was almost as if the older actors in this movie were just waiting for their paychecks and weren't invested. The girl behind Alita was very strong and I felt that her performance broke through the visual barrier but the other younger actors surrounding her were pretty dull especially her love interest who could be the next Hayden Christensen.
In conclusion, Alita: Battle Angel is just another "what if" movie with wasted potential. Its incredible visuals and fast-paced action are definitely enough to keep you interested but don't expect much from the story. The ending is a major cop-out so they can force a sequel and the only good thing that came out of it was an Edward Norton cameo (where the hell has he been?). If you're bored and looking for a popcorn flick check this one out, otherwise, stay at home.
My Score: D+
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