Alita: Battle Angel

By: Maggie Stankiewicz

Alita: Battle Angel is an ambitious film brought to fruition by titans of the film industry. James Cameron and Robert Rodriguez married their minds in adapting, producing and directing this visually stunning film based off of a popular manga “Battle Angel Alita,” which originally sprung into popular in the early-to-mid nineties. Cameron and Rodriguez stacked their lineup with a talented and diverse cast that uses the talents of Rosa Salazar, Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, Mahershala Ali and a handful of other actors known to walk-across an award ceremony stage. With a stable so impressive how could this years-in-the-making dystopian flick go wrong? The flaws of Alita: Battle Angel lie within its steep aspirations.

At the start of the film we follow Dr. Dyson Ido (Christoph Waltz) as he stumbles upon a dismantled Alita (Rosa Salazar) among some wreckage. Dr. Ido sees a spark in Alita and deems her salvageable. Though cybernetic in body, Alita is all human when it comes to heart and soul and the two form a bond that shines brightly amongst the other dimly-lit relationships and aspirations of the dystopian world around them. Alita has no recollection of who she is when Dr. Ido brings her back from the brink of shutting down forever, but it is clear that she is inherently good. Alita’s goodness is a power in of itself, but her physical strength and enhanced combative abilities are forcefully extracted from her when she and Dr. Ido are accosted and attacked by cyber-enhanced beings – fronted by Grewishka (Jackie Earle Haley).

Alita saves Ido in this incident, but it is this start of conflict between the surrogate father and daughter and Alita’s interest in her mysterious past that the extent of her abilities begins to grow. Ido attempts to dissuade her from pursuing life and a force of violence, but she registers herself as a “Hunter-Warrior” without his permission. Her disobedience is not without a price though and ultimately sets her up in yet another battle with Grewishka. This is a turning point for all of the film’s major characters, leaving Grewishka and Alita wounded. All sides retreat and Ido is left to once again care for Alita’s wreckage. Alita’s injuries from her rematch with the cyborg assassin are enough to warrant a drastic change in hardware, but it’s enough to prepare her for Motorball and a flurry of other battles both personal and public. Alita’s trials and tribulations pull her through a journey of love found and love lost. She witnesses the death of a loved one, the effects of mind control and the aftermath of institutional manipulation in the struggle for power – but it’s not enough to keep her from fighting.

Alita: Battle Angel relies heavily on its high budget and CG to build a world engaging to the audience. This is no simple feat, especially when world-building involves mimicking one previously depicted in other adaptations. But it succeeds in this regard, even with the inequities of time and focus. Much like Avatar, Alita uses a hybrid of live-action and CG to create a character’s physical being. Alita herself is a CG-creation, while those around her are either entirely live-action or just partially graphically altered. This sets Alita apart from the rest of the population – and should serve as indication that she’s more than meets the eye.

Alita: Battle Angel is a busy film, to say the least. Immersing a young woman in a world of crime, violence, high-stakes sports and assassination attempts is not something easily accomplished in the span two hours – but oh, does it try. The diverse, richly talented cast do the heavy-lifting when it comes to weak dialogue and the graphics pick up the slack when impassioned delivery isn’t enough, but the film has heart. Alita, with her angel face, coveted technologies and warrior spirit are enough to make this movie a winner. Victory and all, Alita: Battle Angel still has some work left to do, whether it be conquering the box office or defeating Nova.