Western-produced anime movies don't have the best track record. They have largely been hit-or-miss, ranging from decent attempts like Speed Racer, to controversial fare like Ghost in the Shell (which I actually really enjoyed), all the way down to dumpster fires like the infamous Dragon Ball: Evolution. I had mostly settled with the idea that the best we'd get was the overlooked and under-appreciated Tom Cruise vehicle Edge of Tomorrow, loosely based on the manga All You Need Is Kill. Now, a new precedent has been set.
Alita: Battle Angel is a sci-fi cyberpunk story based on the manga series Gunnm (not a typo), also known as Battle Angel Alita, written by Yukito Kishiro. I can't speak for the source material, as I hadn't even heard of it before a few months ago, but this movie is an absolute gem. Director Robert Rodriguez is largely known for grindhouse flicks like From Dusk Till Dawn and Machete, but his past efforts have certainly given him practice in delivering quality action sequences, regardless of a film's budget. However, money clearly wasn't much of an issue in this case, and it shows; producer James Cameron (who also shares scriptwriting credit) has obviously taken what he learned from Avatar to craft some of the finest CGI sets and characters we've seen since we first laid eyes on the world of Pandora. As far as visual imagery goes, the only - ONLY - thing that could constitute as something resembling a flaw is the face of the title character herself, Alita. I feel like the phrase "uncanny valley" is a little trite, but I was frankly baffled that they had decided to borrow the big eyes that anime is known for, as it makes our lead look more than slightly alien. Then again, maybe that's just part of the fun and the point of her character in the first place. Regardless, it honestly ceased to bother me a mere few minutes into the movie, and I even started to get kinda attached to the look.
A very large part of that selling factor is due to the headlining performance of Rosa Salazar. Despite being hampered by a few early lines that couldn't escape their inherent narm, Alita's charming innocence more than measured up to her clear prowess as a destructive force of nature... in the best way possible, of course. The title of the movie says it all.
On the other hand, most of the supporting cast was only adequate, with the notable exceptions of Ed Skrein (who could expertly mix "smarmy" with "intimidating" in his sleep), Jackie Earle Haley (he was born to play the bad guys), and one other actor in particular: I don't think Christoph Waltz knows how to phone it in. He's like Morgan Freeman - no matter how good or bad the movie is, he's always a highlight. It was fun to see Mahershalalhashbaz Ali play a villain, but he just wasn't given enough to do, and Jennifer Connelly was even more underutilized. Keean Johnson's role as the love interest/occasional sidekick Hugo wasn't bad (certainly not like Kit Harington trying to play Vincent in Silent Hill: Revelation), he just came off a little dry.
Complaints aside, the acting is certainly serviceable, and while it tells a great story, it also functions to link together each new high-speed spectacle. Robert Rodriguez and James Cameron's powers combine to form some of the most consistently impressive and individually unique fight scenes that I'm not sure I was aware were even possible in a technically-live-action movie. These sequences somehow feel like large-scale setpieces while still meeting the audience on the personal level we need to connect with Alita and cheer her on. The meaty 2-hour runtime ensures that not only do the mechanical melees get the love they deserve, we also quickly grow to love the battle angel and the beautiful war-torn future world she inhabits.
While Netflix puts together their Cowboy Bebop adaptation and the live-action Akira production floats around in limbo, I hope that studios look to this for guidance on how to finally do it right. Whether you're an anime fan, you enjoy the rare good cyberpunk movie, or you just like good action, you owe it to yourself to watch Alita: Battle Angel.
Review of Alita: Battle Angel
