There are so many things within this film to love, and almost all of them relate to the character Alita. In the very first moments that the audience meets Alita (Rosa Salazar), there’s this sense of reality and beauty about her that draws the audience to her. This is complemented by the film’s rustic dystopian setting of the Iron City where many of its characters reside, such as Dr. Ido (Christoph Waltz), a cybernetic physician who finds and repairs Alita. Within his clinic after seeing her in the Iron City’s scrapyard after being dumped from the utopia sky-city of Zalem, a city reserved only for the wealthy and worthy.
Hugo (Keean Johnson) and Alita (Rosa Salazar) in a bar looking to recruit some bounty hunters to assist them in defeating Grewshinka (Jackie Earle Haley) who is trying to kill her and Dr. Ido (Christoph Waltz). @AlitaMovie
The film “Alita: Battle Angel” is based on the 1990 manga series “Battle Angel Alita” by Yukito Kishiro. The manga series is about an amnesiac cyborg who tries to search for answers about her past and attain access to the sky-city of Zalem through bounty hunting and motor ball (a violent sport within the apocalyptic and cybernetic world of Battle Angel that only allows its champion access to Zalem). Along the way, Alita encounters several various adversaries that seek to prevent her from reaching her goal. Such as Zapan (Ed Skrein), a cybernetic bounty hunter who gains a grudge against Alita for embarrassing him in front of the other hunters and Grewishka (Jackie Earle Haley), a cybernetic assassin hired by Nova to kill Alita as she threatens his power over the Iron City.
Alita (Rosa Salazar) faces off against hired bounty hunters during a motor ball tournament. @AlitaMovie
Despite, the incredible cinematography of the film and the character Alita there were still a few hiccups within the film. One would be Alita’s overreaction to Dr. Ido’s refusal to install her body with a piece of alien technology without enough qualitative reasons for the reaction. This scene felt artificial and misplaced. Furthermore, the relationship between her romantic love interest, Hugo (Keean Johnson) and Alita was heavily rushed as a set-up for a sequel when the story could have been completed as a standalone from the way Rodriquez had set up the film.
Dr. Ido (Christoph Waltz) checks Alita’s (Rosa Salazar) responses after she wakes up from being put back together. @AlitaMovie
However, overall, it is a great and fantastic movie with amazing cinematic, CGI and action sequences. If you want some qualitative character development from characters besides Alita, it’s almost nonexistent as many times the characters within the film suddenly decide to change their moral standings with no real backing to it. If “Alita: Battle Angel” is getting a sequel there needs to be more time given to the development of the relationship between Alita and the characters that she interacts with within the film. Otherwise, this film would be recommended for anyone who loves cyberpunk, action and thrillers, but not necessarily for fans of the original manga series as it’s not an exact adaptation of the series and unless readers are okay with it might not be worth it.
