[rating=7.00]
Alita: Battle Angel exists within a strange place. Though it’s a movie built entirely upon reverence for Yukito Kishiro’s sprawling, groundbreaking manga series Gunnm (or, as it’s often translated, Battle Angel Alita) it’s also a movie that is, perhaps, a bit too desperate for an audience. Even with the surge in popularity of manga and anime, there are many who are as yet unfamiliar with the medium and for whom Alita’s origins mean little.
James Cameron has never been much concerned about that, however. Though as a filmmaker he’s known for churning out audience favorites, blockbusters, and classics, that’s always been more a bonus for Cameron than the aim. Cameron does what Cameron wants; if we come along for the ride then great.
Bringing this story to life is a labor of love for the filmmaker, who wanted to wait until technology caught up with his vision. That it caught up is largely a result of his efforts. Without Avatar, a film that could not have been made without Cameron’s invention of techniques and technology, there could be no Alita. That is something of a double-edged sword for the filmmaker, however, since it’s because of Avatar that Cameron could not direct his long gestating passion project.
Since he’s busy working on roughly infinity sequels to Avatar, the highest-grossing movie of all time, direction of the script co-written by Cameron (alongside Laeta Kalogridis) was handed off to Robert Rodriguez, another filmmaker who knows a thing or two about bringing digital worlds to stunning life.
There’s no denying that Rodriguez taking control of Cameron’s vision makes for a visually amazing experience. In many ways, Alita is a film that looks like nothing has ever looked before even in this age of stunning CGI effects and characters. Their collective knowledge of this kind of filmmaking—Rodriguez having earned his chops through Sin City and the Spy Kids franchise—makes this arguably the most technically advanced film ever made.
Narratively, however, it’s in an awkward position. Even with the boom in comic book inspired media these days, Alita seems to know that the real battle is going to be for audience affections. As such, it tries to provide a little something for everyone, which results in an often uneven hodge podge of cinematic revelry that never quite knows which leg to stand on.
Kishiro’s work is sprawling, with each volume of his series becoming more and more batshit as it continues. Cameron and Rodriguez have, thankfully, stripped the series to its core essentials. Dr. Dyson Ido (Christoph Waltz), who specializes in cybernetics, stumbles across the barely living body of cyborg (Rosa Salazar) while digging through the dump for cheap parts. Using his prowess he brings the cyborg back to life, naming her Alita. Left with no memory of who she is or what she’s done, Alita begins a journey to discover not only why she’s here, but what it means to be alive.
She’s aided in this journey by Hugo (Keean Johnson) who serves both as a kind of mentor to Alita as well as a love interest. It’s through him that she’s introduced to Motorball, a sort of roller derby meets destruction derby battle royale that is the most popular sport in this bizarre future. And it’s through Motorball that she’s introduced to the criminal underground of her world, led by the mysterious Vector (Mahershala Ali), and an unseen puppet master who might hold the key to Alita’s past and the future of the entire world.
As it exists, Alita: Battle Angel is an opening salve for a trilogy that’s more hoped for than planned. Cameron and Rodriguez both seem to understand that this might be their only shot at bringing this story to life, however, and so they do what they can to both tell a complete story and set up any potential sequels that box office numbers might justify. It both works and doesn’t.
For those unfamiliar with the story many of the decision in Alita might be baffling, though they are largely justified by the end. The film’s best moments are the scenes of action and battle, be it on the Motorball track or in personal combat, and here is where Alita shines. Cameron knows how to script fights arguably better than anyone and Rodriguez certain knows how to get the most out of his action. As such, the film shines when the action is running full-throttle. Even with the CGI-enhanced scenes and characters, the energy is frenetic and the action is intense. It’s gripping and exciting and everything action should be.
That said, getting to these moments is often a problem. Knowing that they’re going against a recognition-gap for much of the potential audience means that Cameron and Kalogridis have to hold our hands with exposition and development. Kishiro’s world is complex and baffling, and since most lay-audiences will have a hard time understanding what’s happening without the near constant infodumps, it’s understandable. But it does grind things to a halt, even if we’re largely paid off by the end.
So, too, with the romance. Alita and Hugo’s love story is largely legless as both characters go through the motions of romantic intrigue without ever really succeeding in justifying the relationship. The chemistry between Salazar and Johnson is just never there (though I suppose an argument could be made that this is intentional—it is, after all, a romance between a cyborg and a human).
Still, it’s easy to forget all of this whenever Alita squares up against a bigger, badder cyborg or takes to the track for a Motorball showdown. And though the road to get there is sometimes arduous and circuitous, the film mostly justifies itself by the final act—which not only brings a mostly satisfying conclusion to the story but also does a delightful job at setting up any future installment.
In fact, you can almost look at Alita: Battle Angel as a proof of concept for an entire trilogy. In that way, it does a pretty solid job at making a case for completion. More than that, future installments might have the net effect of improving Alita: Battle Angel as an overall field. With more time and room to explore the character, her motivations, and her world, much of what slows this film down could be rendered moot if they get the chance. Reliant as it is on box office numbers and profits, however, that’s a risky bet. Let’s hope it pays off. As flawed as it might be, it’s hard to deny that it’s also a goddamn blast.
Alita: Battle Angel is now playing in theaters everywhere.
