Alita: Battle Angel

Alita: Battle Angel

Starring Rosa Salazar, Christoph Waltz, Keean Johnson, Mahershala Ali

Directed by Robert Rodriguez

The Story:
In 2563, Dr. Ido (Christoph Waltz) fixes cyborgs with spare parts that fall from the levitating city of Zalem, and one day finds a disembodied female cyborg with a working human brain, and uses the cyborg body he kept for his recently-deceased daughter to create a new being.  Naming her Alita (Rosa Salazar), he acts like her protective father, as she slowly comes into her own despite having no memories of her past life.

She embarks on a normal teenage path including disobeying her surrogate father and falling for teenager Hugo (Keean Johnson), who introduces her to the sport of Motorball.  Meanwhile, Vector (Mahershala Ali) and his assistant Dr. Chiren (Jennifer Connelly) seek out parts to create the ultimate warrior for Motorball, and learn of Alita's prowess.  As she begins to have memories of her past, she exhibits amazing fighting skills, and learns that she's the last of her kind - and the only one who can save the world.

The Synopsis:
Generally when a film is pushed back from its original opening date, it's due to issues with the movie itself, and doesn't generally bode well.  "Alita: Battle Angel" was a film that "Titanic" director James Cameron wanted to direct in the 90s, but due to his work in "Titanic," "Avatar," and the fact that the technology needed hadn't been invented yet, he had to push it back.  "Spy Kids" director Robert Rodriguez picked up the project with Cameron producing, and the film was finished and set to premiere last summer, but got pushed back to last December - and then pushed back again to this February.  The first push-back was due to some post production issues, while the second came when they didn't want to compete against juggernauts like "Aquaman" and "Bumblebee" during the holiday season, but a film that's generally released in February means that no one has any hopes it'll be any good.

While "Alita" doesn't tread any new lines storywise, it does deliver a polished, lavish, downright awe-inspiring world filled with state-of-the-art CGI and intense action sequences that elevate it above its tepid, generic script.  Yet with a budget of over $200 million dollars, the film needs to amass a large financial windfall for it to just break even, and while Cameron has ideas for two more sequels (the film itself is based off the manga "Battle Angel Alita"), it doesn't look like he'll be able to continue in this franchise.

The story - much like Cameron's "Avatar" - is very simplistic.  A teenage girl rebels against her overbearing father figure, falls in love with the local bad boy, questions her past, learns of her importance, and sets out to do the right thing.  The film doesn't allow for the viewer to feel any sense of fear for our heroine, because we all know she'll make it out just fine, but it's the journey that's the most important - even if it's a yellow-brick-road journey as generic as they come.

Newcomer Rosa Salazar tackles Alita with gusto, taking on the issue of wearing a motion-camera suit that turns her into a CGI hero with big eyes and a body fully equipped for taking on the biggest of the bads.  Many people had issue with her eyes beforehand, but I think they did a tremendous job at making them seem normal, and I wouldn't be surprised to hear the film earning an Academy Award nomination next year for Best Visual Effects - that's the true saving grace of the film, after all.  Salazar gives Alita a deeply personal touch, showing her not just as a teenager or a weapon of mass destruction, but as a cyborg who sets out to do the right thing (even if she does so with some humorous quips along the way).  She really owns her performance, and has a very decent chance at having an illustrious action career.

Two-time Oscar winner Christoph Waltz plays Alita's surrogate father, and isn't given much more to work with than that, even though he also sets out to fight evil cyborgs as well.  Likewise, Oscar-winner Jennifer Connelly is merely wallpaper as the typical right-hand of the big bad, and two-time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali tackles the generic villain role in typical generic fashion.  Alita's love interest - fellow newcomer Keean Johnson - is also as memorable as the color of the carpet in your childhood home.  Again, the strength of the film doesn't come from the story, but the incredibly stylish action, effects, and CGI.  Without that, this really would be worthy of a February dump - but with it, turns the film into something more exciting and fascinating than it really should've been.

The Summary:
When you get geniuses like Robert Rodriguez and James Cameron, you're obviously going to find a unique, one-of-a-kind film, and that's exactly what "Alita" is - even if the script is as bare-bones as it could be, the window dressings make it something very memorable and exciting.

The Score: A