Alita: Battle Angel movie review

MOVIE TITLE: Alita: Battle Angel

RATING: PG-13

LENGTH: 2 hours 2 minutes

Movie Review Mom GRADE: B+

IN A NUTSHELL: This Anime action is full of fantastic sci-fi special effects and impressive CGI world building that will make your eyes feel saturated by the end. It’s an action movie, romance story, and futuristic look at humanity.

Directed by Robert Rodriguez and produced by James Cameron, this highly artistic collaboration was inspired by Yukito Kishiro’s graphic novel manga books called Motorball and Gunnm. I’ve never read them, so I had zero expectations when watching this film. Those who are familiar with the source material Battle Angel Alita Vol. 1

are definitely going to hope certain aspects of the story are handled correctly.

The budget for this Anime adaptation was close to $200 million! As Dr. Dyson Ido (Christoph Waltz) says in the movie, “I’ve never seen anything like it.” Indeed.

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

James Cameron wanted this movie to be rated PG-13. While there is blood, it’s mostly blue, with only some red. There is, however, a lot of killing.
Words like “crap”, name-calling, and 1 F-bomb
Your kids are going to probably want to start roller skating to play their own version of Motorball.
Lots of violence, fighting, destruction
The red stripes Alita paints under her large eyes are from the blood of a dog that was killed.
Harvesting of body parts (dark subject matter)
Cyborg/human romance (kissing)
Alita quickly falls in love and readily offers to rip out her cyber-heart for her new boyfriend. Not a smart choice, Alita! Your daughters might think that’s really romantic, so you might want to talk to them about healthy relationships.

THEMES:

Self-discovery
Sacrifice
“You got to stay focused on your dream.” – Hugo (Keean Johnson)
“I do not stand by in the presence of evil.” – Alita (Rosa Salazar)
Female empowerment

THINGS I LIKED:

Some really epic snapshot images. James Cameron is a master at world-building I became a bit obsessed with his blockbuster Avatar and I’m finally going to see Avatarland in Orlando this April. Yay! Alita’s world has been carefully crafted and it shows.
Rosa Salazar voices the CGI Alita. Her facial expressions and movements are amazing. While her cybernetic body is impressive, I love that the film also addresses her heart and soul.
If you’ve read any of my movie reviews before, you know I LOVE details. This movie has tons of them. Itty bitty details that show you how much thought and attention was given to every frame. Love it!
Christoph Waltz always gives us an intriguing character in his pictures. I thought he was perfectly cast.
Mahershala Ali won awards for his roles in Moonlight and Green Book. In ALITA he plays Vector. He, Jennifer Connelly, and Christoph Waltz are all Academy Award winners.
The Motorball sequences are thrilling with spectacular CGI and creativity.
James Cameron wrote this. What a creative mind he has. I loved Avatar and Titanic , The Terminator and True Lies. I’m such a fan.
Creative and inventive action and fight scenes.
The movie was filmed in 3D and really should be seen in 3D to truly see the magic.
Michelle Rodriguez offers a voice cameo.
The details and creativity of the design of the bounty hunters were fantastic and intricate. Ed Skrein/Zapan’s back was especially impressive.
I always appreciate it when a movie explains why it has the title it does.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

If you’re unfamiliar with the manga stories and characters, you’ll hear a lot of new names for creatures, wars, and locations. It can get a little bit confusing without understanding the backstory. Some flashbacks in the movie help a little bit.
It annoys me when people wear dark sunglasses day or night just to look cool. (Vector/Mahershal Ali) However, there is a scene later on that explains why he did that.
Only a little bit of humor. I would have loved more.
There were a couple of editing issues that jolted me.
We don’t really learn much about the main villain (Nova/Edward Norton!) until the very end when the curtain is drawn back.
Oscar winner Jennifer Connolly didn’t have much to do. Her character was really bland and her hatred towards certain people didn’t really get explained.
You’re going to have a lot of questions after watching the movie.
Christoph Waltz’s helper, Nurse Gerhad, (Idara Victor) just stood there and did nothing during the entire film.

FUNNY LINES:
* “I’m with her.” – Hugo

INTERESTING LINES:

Well, look at you. This is just a body. It is not good or bad. That part is up to you.” –
“You told me the story of the world, when the ground shook and the sky burned, of the ones that survived, who awoke to a different world, where the powerful prey on the weak, but that’s not the way it has to be.” – Alita
“Does it bother you? That I’m not completely human?” – Alita

“You are the most human person I have ever met.” – Hugo