Yukito Kishiro’s creation has finally made it from the black and white pages of the classic manga, to the ultra-realistic environment of the big screen. Here are 5 convincing (spoiler-free) reasons to watch Alita Battle Angel:
#5: Fantastic Worldbuilding
Set in a post-apocalyptic 26th century world, the film vividly shows-off it’s dystopian landscape full of rusted infrastructure in the Iron City and a floating city called Zalem, just above it. The Iron City serves as the residence for the poor and is infested with criminal cyborgs and ruthless folks. Winning the Motorball game is apparently the only way for one to make it to the Zalem. There are numerous other minute details which have been taken care of and can be seen in the film.
So enough with the details, I must say that although the movie may lack a proper narration, it succeeds in worldbuilding, especially because this particular element serves as the set-up for… shhhhh…
I won’t be giving any spoilers!
#4: It breaks the ‘Anime/Manga Live-Action Adaptions Are Crap’-Stereotype!
Alita has to be the only live action adaptation of a manga that I actually loved! And no, this isn’t just my opinion, but go browse the web for reviews by the Otaku community and you won’t believe your eyes! They are absolutely in love with it!
Although people were initially creeped-out due to those photo-realistic anime eyes, the manga distinctly mentions that Alita had unusually big eyes and dude, SHE’S A CYBORG! There’s nothing wrong with those eyes! In fact, they are lively, expressive and serve to make her look larger then life and adorable (or is just me who thinks she’s adorable?)!
Do I need to say anything else about this?
#3: The fast paced action sequences will put any Kung-Fu movie to shame
This blockbuster, had the best action sequences in the history of films and NO, I’m not exaggerating it in any way! Kudos to Rodriguez and his team for the fantastic fight direction!
Alita uses a special form of combat called the Panzer Kunst. As per the Battle Angel Fandom Wiki:
Panzer Kunst is the first fighting style developed to anticipate cyborg combat. Its foundation is fighting in zero gravity, a prerequisite for all space age martial arts, which allows the practitioner to fight in any atmosphere. Panzer Kunst seems to emphasize speed as well as the use of vibration-based attacks to bypass an opponent’s cyborg armour and directly cause damage to limbs or internal organs. The art is also quite effective against larger foes.
#2: Rosa Salazar’s Brilliant Performance & Alita’s Character Development
Imagine wearing a black spandex like costume with multiple markers attached to your body, face, along with some batteries and cameras attached to your head, and the director shouts, “ACTION!”. This is what Rosa had to go through for the entire filming process! In spite of this, she succeeds in bringing the character to life with those expressive eyes (and with the VFX team of course!).
Okay, I’m sorry! Just don’t kill me for obsessing over those eyes! 🙏
Talking about the character development, Alita, being the titular cyborg and getting ample of screen time, shows significant development in the movie.
“Alita Battle Angel is about a girl who is plopped into the world not knowing who she is and she goes on a journey of self discovery and discovers that she’s not an insignificant girl at all. She is someone quite extraordinary!”
-Rosa Salazar
Initially, she is shown to be a playful, joyous, lively and a vulnerable girl, who’s learning and adapting to the new environment after 300 years of sleep. She’s powerful, yet thinks of herself to be an insignificant girl. This changes later, as the plot progresses, making her more confident about herself.
#1: It’s a Cameron Masterpiece
Oh come on, this reason alone should be enough to convince you to watch the film (at first, it was the sole reason I wanted to watch it!). After all, he’s known for great films like Avatar and Titanic. Not to mention the technology developed specially for his films since Alita used the same tech used in making Avatar, alongside some new one. The VFX is totally outta this world! And of course, it’s not just James Cameron; Jon Landau produced it too, while it was directed by Robert Rodriguez.
Cameron went crazy after reading the manga and immediately registered the site domain for film about 20 years ago! Yeah, you read that right! 20 YEARS AGO! He delayed completing the script since he was busy with Avatar and hence the time.
So have I convinced you enough to watch Cameron’s baby and the labor of his love? Comment below; Clap and share if you liked it!
You can watch Alita Battle Angel on YouTube, Google Play Movies or Amazon Prime Video!
And if you are a fan of horror flicks, have a look at my other article about Tumbbad, a non-cliche horror film which is art at it’s best: 10 Facts About Tumbbad That Will BLOW YOUR MIND!
