Alita Battle Angel

Directed by Robert Rodriguez written and produced by James Cameron, based on 90’s Japanese cyberpunk manga series created by Yukito Kishiro.

I often think about all these post-apocalyptic worlds created for our entertainment, and cringe at the possible self-fulfilling prophecy of it all. History shows us the collective conscious can create, shift and build our societies and environment, so what does it mean that we’ve been steeped in movies like: 12 Monkeys, The Road, Mad Max, Children of Men, War of the Worlds, World War Z, The Day After Tomorrow, District 9, Zombieland, Blade Runner, Ready Player One, Planet of the Apes and so many more for the last 25 years, particularly in the last decade?

Then other times I feel like perhaps we play out all the horrors of a dog eat dog, only the strong survive type existence again and again on the screen to prevent it from actually taking place. Perhaps the collective conscious that draws us into these post-apocalyptic scenarios is our way of saying, let’s not do this, let’s prevent this future… I hope it’s this latter thought that prevails, because for the life of me, I tend to really gravitate to these sci-fi worlds where the inhabitants require an abundance of wit and fortitude…

Which brings us to #AlitaBattleAngel. The story takes place on earth in 2563 after the catastrophic war known as “The Fall”. Humans still exist, but most inhabitants seem to be Cyborgs (humans with enhanced mechanical physical attributes). Dr. Dyson Ito is a cyborg doctor out in a junk yard looking for spare parts when he discovers Alita, she’s little more than a head, but he feels he can restore her with a new body, as her human brain and extraordinary heart are still intact. What awakens is a delightful young girl with no memory of who or what she once was; taking pleasure in little things like oranges and her relationship with Dr. Ido – until she discovers he may be the one out hunting cyborgs, which switches on a very different Alita, no one, herself included, knew was present.

A number of reviewers have criticized the story for being too weak or uninventive, but as mentioned, it’s based on a graphic novel (manga) from the 90’s, so they had to be careful not to venture too far away from the source material or the fan boys would be in disapproval. And from what I’ve read they are onboard.

Despite the long road it took for ALITA to get here, I think it feels fresh; there’s noticeable CGI advancements; I’m glad they went for giving her those big Japanese anime eyes; I was drawn easily into this world and her story origin, while leaving time for a decent plot, without being overly long. But the real draw for this movie is the incredibly creative and brutal fight scenes. If you like seeing things get banged up, ripped apart and destroyed, then this is a can’t miss! Despite what that may mean for the actual future on earth.

Cast: Rosa Salazar, Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, Mahershala Ali, Keean Johnson

Tinsel & Tine the Large Association of Movie Blogs (aka the LAMb) rating: 4 outta 5