We are at the stage of James Cameron’s career when he has more ideas, but less time to make all the movies that he wants so Cameron anointed certain disciples to breathe life into his visions. Deadpool’s Tim Miller got Terminator: Dark Fate, and From Dusk to Dawn and Grindhouse Planet Terror’s Robert Rodriguez got Alita: Battle Angel. Miller and Rodriguez are strong directors who probably felt honored, but by informally consulting Cameron, who has not released a film since Avatar in 2009, they may have gotten a priceless opportunity to learn from a legendary innovator, but lost momentum and departed from independently developing their signature style.
Alita: Battle Angel is an adaptation of a manga series about a rescued cyborg trying to remember who she is. As a blank slate, her questions act as a way for us to learn more about this futuristic world run amok if there were no building or medical regulations. I saw the previews around 8,000 times. I love women kicking butt, but the CGI left me as cold as Final Fantasy so I was not tempted to see it in theaters. I chose to see it as soon as it became available for home viewing on DVD. It also had the unfortunate timing of being promoted around the same time as Ready, Player, Go, which I have not seen and do not plan to unless streaming, and Mortal Engines, all vaguely cyberpunk, futuristic films.
Alita: Battle Angel feels like an old-fashioned film in spite of being set in the future. The narrative felt cluttered: a murder mystery, a frame job, a tragic dead child story, a love story, a futuristic, exploitive sport competition, a mysterious big bad responsible for all the ills of this world, possession by technology, a flawed but not evil teenage boy whose hubris seals his fate, a divorced couple torn by ambition and loss, at least two relationships with seeds of betrayal, transhumanism, two vengeful fragile masculine characters, evil scientists, addiction, harvesters, classic haves and have nots spatial division. I would have preferred if the love and sports elements were completely cut. It felt as if the movie was desperately trying to appeal to various demographics without displeasing anyone thus failing to satisfy anyone.
The titular character is a cyborg with a naïve human teenage brain, which I found more believable than the absurd number of multiple career choices, which felt contrived in a Rube Goldbergian to give her a conflict to postpone her real historical conflict, which ultimately had no actual consequences and an anticlimactic way to get to her real enemy. I almost started laughing at the end. I’ll get you after I play x number of games, but I will get you. When she was ready to give her heart to the wrong person, metaphors get literal, and we are in the point of the proceedings when it is a Saturday Night Live script when the dance to the song is acting out of words. The story stays silly and serious.
Alita: Battle Angel completely sympathizes with Dr. Ido, her father figure and the person who rescues her, instead of continuously looking at him as a bit of a disturbed, unhealthy guy. The whole dynamic between him and Alita is disproportionately paternalistic. Their alleged mutual father daughter bond makes no emotional sense compared to the amount of time they spend together and the quality of their interactions. He clearly needs therapy because the emotional connection otherwise makes no sense. I can buy him feeling that way about her, but not vice versa. When she was suspicious of him and bucked against his rules, it felt authentic, but their instant warmth was puzzling. I retroactively felt more sympathetic with his ex-wife, who is framed as a villain, but is just appalled at her husband’s coping mechanism. Even the brief scene with Alita and the ex felt earned. The movie believes we should accept her as a substitute, and I just can’t. I value her independently and need relationships to humanize her. She is more than how she makes people feel.
Alita could have been innately interesting and appealing without these relationships. Alita: Battle Angel shows three sets of flashbacks about her origins, which are more compelling than the majority of the narrative. I was left wondering why the story had to start with her having amnesia and could not start at the literal beginning of her story, which is the heart of her story. It was exciting, action packed and a real conflict with believable high stakes, which I was more invested in than the actual surrounding movie. The relationship with her mentor was better than her fake dad and forgettable boyfriend, who got more screen time and side stories than they deserved. It probably helps that an uncredited cameo from an acting action drama icon played the mentor—hint: she has an instantly recognizable voice. Everything else seems unnecessary and extraneous in service to a franchise that will never come. If there was at least one great short standalone film starting at the chronological beginning of the story, then the likelihood of a franchise would increase, and we may be even more invested in the titular character when we got to the story told in this film.
When I watched the extra features, Alita: Battle Angel was supposed to set up a story about someone who seemed insignificant, an underdog, to turn out to be pivotal. This theme was never conveyed. Did the filmmakers not realize the title of the movie? She is clearly the chosen one from her first appearance in a junkyard. If the movie works, it is in spite of the numerous weaknesses in the story and because of Rosa Salazar, who infused emotion into the CGI by providing voice acting, facial expressions and physical movement. I briefly felt chills when she uttered, “I do not stand in the presence of evil.” She brought a character to life that I aesthetically find instinctually repulsive because of the uncanny valley, made me like her in spite of her naivete and had me rooting for her.
I also think that I am a little tired of Christoph Waltz. I like him, but I feel as if I have seen his entire range. I feel as if an older Travis Fimmel could have rocked the role or Mahershala Ali in that role instead of as Vector, a villain. Side note: Ali is getting paid, and we can no longer watch a movie because he is in it. Ali is no longer a stamp of quality. Jennifer Connelly, whom I normally find underwhelming, worked for me here as the ex, and I loved her wardrobe. She injected what little sex appeal was allowed to enter the proceedings. It was so odd that Alita got a body that could feel, a teenage mentality and a boyfriend, but not even an ounce of chemistry. Somewhere Pris and Roy are shaking their head. I am not even into PDA , but y’all brought the love interest.
Alita: Battle Angel’s aesthetic is Blade Runner meets favelas with a healthy dose of Rodriguez’s Sin City, Terry Gilliam’s cluttered futuristic vision and a complete ripoff of Rollerball. I know that it was the wrong movie, but I kept hoping for an Okoye moment where she ripped her wig off and truly embraced her true self. Maybe this movie is more for dads with daughters than daughters. It is entertaining. Salazar needs more work to show off her talent. It is ultimately forgettable.
