Alita: Battle Angel

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Alita is a tricky film to review. If you aren't a fan of the original anime/manga or just anime in general then I could see how a person might take it as empty spectacle with an annoying open ending leading to stories that might never come to be (like Terminator Salvation and Genisys.) Or it might come across as a Ghost in the Shell/Real Steel copycat.

But man, if you know the anime they freaking hit this one *out of the park.* Rather than just condensing the entirety of the manga into one two hour flick (like AKIRA somehow masterfully accomplished) Alita just tackled the first few volumes of the manga. It more closely follows the 55 minute straight to video movie from 1993 but adds backstory and some sequences that otherwise didn't appear until later in the manga.

You'll either like that approach or you won't and its box office earnings might mean that no future stories ever come to be (though since James Cameron owns the film rights exclusively he may just pony up the dough for a sequel himself a la Lucas and the PT.)

Battle Angel is a bit of an unusual choice to get the big budget live-action treatment (way more niche and fringe than the GitS's and AKIRA's of the world) but if there's anything you liked in the original OVA series then it's pretty much guaranteed to be in this one. This is as true an anime adaptation as we may ever see. Does that translate to it being on par with Blade Runner or RoboCop or The Matrix? Not quite but it's a site to behold and one I'd wholeheartedly recommend catching on the biggest screen possible.

I do think if they're allowed to continue with this story then in time it could definitely end up being on par with those other classics. It just has too big a story to fit into one two hour flick.

(Replying/quoting here as not to derail the other thread)

Man it was so good! I probably would have seen it in a regular theatre, but I’m glad you said to watch it on the biggest screen possible, it was completely worth it in imax 3d (and the $80 something we spent for the group :lol)

Outside of my group though, there were only 4 other people there. The 3d also cut out about 10 minutes into the film, one lens just went completely dark. After waiting a couple minutes I got up and grabbed one of the workers there who had them restart the movie with it functioning properly this time (since no one else seemed to want to do it lol)

None of that soured me on the film though - it’s honestly the most fun I’ve had at the cinema since Rogue One/Fury Road. Alita herself was just a joy to watch. She was so expressive/adorable/badass and just plain downright awesome. The motion capture was on point and the voiceover was ridiculously good. Ol’ Jim continues his tradition of presenting us the strongest of female protagonists. (And I don’t just mean strong as in her strength but the entirety of her character) I had my doubts about the new terminator but I don’t think he’d do us wrong as long as he has a good amount of oversight over the project.

I thought it did a good job of world building too - I’d put it on a ‘light level’ of something like blade runner, but missing the atmosphere that comes with such a flick. I would’ve loved to spend more time in the world.

I also loved the texture on her original body and the intricate work on her forearms and such.

They certainly did cram a lot into one movie and you could feel it’s breakneck speed, I hope an extended edition is in the works for home release as well (and they better keep the imax scenes - absolutely hate when flicks cut them out for home)

As to the source, I myself have read the manga years ago though I haven’t seen the short OVA, and honestly I don’t think they could have adapted this any better. It does lose some of the atmosphere and goriness, but that’s obviously to appeal to a broader audience. About the only change I didn’t like was Hugo’s character being more of the hunky boyfriend with a good heart vs the obsessed version of the manga, but I can see why they went that route. Again I detract no points for that however.

Comparing to the manga, I’d say it covers about 2.5 out of the 9 volumes (as there’s obviously still some left to the motorball arc), so it needs 2 sequels at the least. I’m glad to see China has warmed to it and I hope that increases the chances of future instalments (or Cameron just bankrolls it himself a la the PT as you mentioned).

Speaking of BO, I’ve seen on many corners of the internet there’s a growing movement to go see Alita on March 8 for those who are ‘voting with their wallets’ on Capt Marvel. It’s hard to quantify anything on the net so I have no idea just how many will do it, but I’m not a picky man, anything that contributes to this movie’s box office is fine by me, for whatever reason :lol. I want those damn sequels, I need my fix!

Favorite moments - motor(murder)ball of course, and I’m sure this is what you must have been referring to when you said you didn’t even blink through the entirety of the scene, man that was intense :lol

The underground fight with Grewishka, specifically what happens after she jumps at him with all the whips encircling her (won’t mention the rest due to spoilers)

The flashbacks

I also didn’t have a problem with the heart scene as it seems a couple here had - it was like she said, she’s ‘all or nothing’ and that was definitely translated through her character up until that point. Plus they de-escalated it quite well with the line after that.

My mom wants to see it as well (as she loves anime in general) but my dad hates anything with animated or even CG characters (opposites in their movie preferences :lol), so I may give her company and see it again as well in a couple of weeks. Though it’s out of imax here now.

Edit: oh yeah, who was expecting that Ed Norton cameo out of nowhere? :lol
 
According to latest box office numbers, ...it looks unlikely to make a profit. Which seems like such an injustice. I have heard only praise for this film, but it's just not finding its audience.

Probably not a good thing when you're box office numbers are compared to John Carter...

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.fo...ow-to-train-your-dragon-3-both-pass-350m/amp/
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I never expected to see a sequel, am just grateful I got this one
 
I never expected to see a sequel, am just grateful I got this one
I would really like to see more, will honestly be disappointed if this is it.

Better than getting nothing. But sad, since I feel this movie could have done quite well, had it been promoted and it's release timed better.

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(Replying/quoting here as not to derail the other thread)

Man it was so good! I probably would have seen it in a regular theatre, but I’m glad you said to watch it on the biggest screen possible, it was completely worth it in imax 3d (and the $80 something we spent for the group :lol)

Yes!!! :rock :rock So glad you enjoyed it and that you got to see it in the expanded IMAX format! :yess:

Outside of my group though, there were only 4 other people there. The 3d also cut out about 10 minutes into the film, one lens just went completely dark. After waiting a couple minutes I got up and grabbed one of the workers there who had them restart the movie with it functioning properly this time (since no one else seemed to want to do it lol)

None of that soured me on the film though - it’s honestly the most fun I’ve had at the cinema since Rogue One/Fury Road.

After I saw it the second time (raising the score of my initial review that you posted) I literally wanted to compare the action to *both* RO and Fury Road but held back so as not to oversell it. Glad you made the same connection. :lol :rock
 
Just saw it- really enjoyed it- the ending was great even if it left things hanging but as she pointed that sword towards Nova I was smiling...
Yeah too bad, as I predicted the box office was poor for this and I don't see Cameron funding another- he's too busy making a bunch of Avatar sequels. A shame , I enjoyed Alita far more than Avatar...
 
saw it for a 3rd time today still enjoyed it as much as the first 2 times. I keep picking up different things with each watching. I still heard the gasps of amazement from new viewers in the audience at the end of that sewer fight which makes me smile everytime.
 
This movie has a lot of heart, and people who seen love it. Word of mouth will spread, and I think the fan base will grow as more people discover is little gem.
 
What these "experts" fail to state is that Cameron owns the movie rights to Alita, so he could take a sequel to another studo if they wanted to fund it.
 
If you haven't seen this movie yet, and can't get good seats for Captain Marvel then definitely give this film some support this coming weekend and go see it instead and wait for the 2nd week to watch Captain Marvel. You'll have a great time! It would be nice if this could hit 85-100 mil domestic by end of March.
 
Bs this movie could t hit that mark sooner. It was a good movie with good action. Better than most movies today. And the hell didbt this get any support? People always whining about strong female characters in movies but don’t show up to half of them. Alita May of been a robot but she was great
 
hmm only 3 weeks in and they already pulled the 4th week weekend showings? WTF?
There something weird going on Captain Marvel is the only movie you can get ticket for on fandango and moviefone for my local 13 theater cineplex.

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UPDATE The sites will be updated with the other movie times tomorrow. I guess CM has a enough of a head start.
 
That's just Disney throwing their money around. They're the reason Rotten Tomatoes made those adjustments too.
It's not unusual, I've seen that happen many times before, and not just with Disney releases. Often times the only shows available for advance purchase are the new releases. Once it 1 or 2 days out, all the movies will be available. I think it's to ensure their system can handle the demand.

Everything's not a conspiracy.

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