Review of Alita: Battle Angel (2019) by Lamontraymond — 31 Jan 2019

I knew nothing about Yukito Kishiro’s manga walking into my screening of Alita: Battle Angel, but I found the film to be gripping throughout. Perhaps only the ending left me slightly unsatisfied (for obvious and necessary reasons when you see it).

Sure, there are some implausibility issues that critics are citing (and the film borrows story element from a number of other sci-fi sagas we’ve seen), but the characters of Alita and her love interest Hugo are entirely believable and compelling.

And Christophe Waltz is fantastic. Ali and Connelly have smaller parts, but they’re terrific. I was concerned, after seeing the trailer, that the bulk of the “good vs. evil” action would be confined to the MotorBall arena, but it’s not the case.

There are some amazing set pieces in this movie. The film’s action sequences and its visuals are absolutely fantastic. It doesn’t have a heavy “artificial” CGI feel to it at all. And at least in my theater, the 3D experience was better-than-perfect (I typically loathe 3D) – the screen didn’t look “grey” or “dim” like it does with most 3D movies.

It was entirely bright and all the colors popped. I can’t imagine this film not doing extremely well with a younger audience, and I absolutely want more of this story.