Alita: Battle Angel

This review may contain spoilers!

If you aren't here for the special effects show then you are going to be tremendously disappointed in this lackluster film. I would give Alita: Battle Angel a 3.5/10.

Alita: Battle Angel is about a young android woman who is discovered by a cybernetic repairman; the mystery surrounding young Alita quickly blooms into a narrative about love and revolution. If there is one thing the plot of this film manages to pull off it is making aspects of the world building quite exciting. Elements like the gladiatorial sport, Motorball, the difference between Iron City and Zalem after the historical war known as 'The Fall' and even the Hunter-Warrior Guild are quite fascinating to learn about in their own right. The special effects for the feature are rather well-designed; absolutely stunning artificial cityscapes and quite a creative array of designs for the various android and cyborg characters.

The best performance came from Mahershala Ali, who played Vector. There were a number of big names and talent attached to this film but unlike many others Ali was able to shine despite a rather shoddy script. His role as the key leader of the criminal underworld in Iron City feels cold-blooded and runs things with a merciless edge. I really enjoy how in some scenes he can fall into this dispassionate leader who is willing to manipulate, charm or execute whoever may stand in his way. What really makes this role shine through is how Ali performs the scenes in which his character acts while possessed by Norton's Nova. He goes from being quite intimidating to analytical and systematic; he still has a dispassionate edge to him but this comes from a sudden sense of power that the role otherwise didn't possess. The scene in which Ali is dying yet almost unnaturally remains connected playing Nova is a real perturbing watch but very well executed. The icing on the cake is how the scenes in which Nova releases Vector and you watch Ali assume his original role you really feel his fear over not being in control of himself.

This film is a complete flop from start to finish, sitting in the cinema felt like an age watching the whole thing play out. As a character Alita is very frustrating to watch, she has no sense of agency and when she does grab at some shred of independence it is often motivated by her attachment to a secondary character. In fact a significant amount of this film is guided by Alita being hopelessly lovestruck by this lowlife, Hugo, early into the film. Her consistently blind devotion to Hugo only leads to a rather obvious 'doomed love' story in which one of them tragically dies; and I'll give you a hint, they don't call this flick 'Hugo: Battle Angel'. A lot of the characters seem very emotionless or dry, giving a bleak or bored tone throughout. This has a poor effect for Alita given that she is over the top in how bright and bubbly she sees the world. Ultimately the film is supposed to be about watching Alita rise to be a challenger to the reign of Nova and those who live in Zalem but in reality, you just feel like a very melodramatic role has been turned into a lover scorned. There's nothing new here and a shallow plot that hopes all the well-polished effects will distract you from that fact. The cinematography is rather boring for a blockbuster, opting to use a lot of repeated techniques and shots or keeping quite stationary and boring in moments where a bit of creativity could have been well rewarded. The score for the film borders upon the generic for a feature like this, Alita is built up with fanfare but not a sound that makes you feel anything or connects you to these scenes.

Rosa Salazar, who played Alita, lays the melodrama on thick in this title role that it gets rather difficult to identify with her; Salazar really takes the her role's joy at discovering new things and finding 'love' to a pretty cheesy place. Christoph Waltz, who played Dr. Dyson Ido, is really poorly suited to this film; watching him hobble around pretending to be a bounty hunter might have worked a few years ago but is a hard sell these days. Jennifer Connelly, who played Chiren, is just devoid of emotion in many of her scenes; Connelly places a really messily written character and it's hard to find her convincing as an antagonist or a heroic figure. Ed Skrein, who played Zapan, is a pretty obnoxious character who feels very impotent to watch onscreen; Skrein is supposed to be a significant threat who is only capable of being a mild annoyance to the rest of the main cast. Jackie Earle Haley, who played Grewishka, is so coated in CGI that really anyone could've played this character; Haley's lumbering brute feels like a two-dimensional bad guy out of a Saturday morning cartoon. Keean Johnson, who played Hugo, has to be the most painful character to watch onscreen; Johnson doesn't show a shred of charm and the onscreen chemistry between him and Salazar just isn't there. Jorge Lendeborg Jr., who played Tanji, hangs about in a lot of scenes but the film seems torn between wanting to cast him as a bully antagonist or a loyal friend protagonist; the arc for this role is so confused that by the time he is written out you don't care much about him. Edward Norton, who played Nova, is just a tease for a sequel that after watching all this I couldn't have cared less for; Norton doesn't feel like he has anywhere near the same amount of menace that Ali possessed. Michelle Rodriguez, who played Gelda, gives her usual stoic portrayal of a 'too tough to care' type; Rodriguez is boring to watch as an android space commando which seems almost impossible given the nature of the role.