A “near-perfect” sci-fi film that has rave reviews and fans begging for a sequel is on Film 4 tonight at 10.55pm. Alita: Battle Angel is a brilliant space adventure film that has had fans waiting on tenter-hooks for six years for a follow-up film.
Adapted by James Cameron from a series of Manga books, this animated film has a stacked cast including Jennifer Connolly and Christopher Waltz and Rosa Salazar voicing Alita.
We follow Alita, a deactivated cyborg who is revived but can’t remember anything of her past as she goes on a quest to find out who she really is and where she has come from.
Set hundreds of years in the future, we land in the scrapyard of Iron City where a cyber-doctor takes kindly upon Atila and fixes her up.
The doctor, Ido, helps her navigate the cruel streets of the Iron City and shield her from her past. With a 91% popcorn meter rating on Rotten Tomatoes, this film is a firm favourite among sci-fi enthusiasts.
Grant W wrote: “Loved the film, just been kept waiting a very long time for the next installment. It’s a spectacle of a sci-fi film that deserves it long awaited sequel. Bring it on.” Precious T agreed: “Amazing movie, amazing CGI before the movie industry downfall. Still waiting for the sequel.”
However Wyatt H suggested the film-makers bit off more than they could chew. They wrote: “A near perfect example of an ambition being bigger than budget and capabilities, yet despite this and it’s many, many flaws, it’s an enjoyable film, though the story is messy and the cgi can’t keep up.”
Winning a host of awards for visual effects, IMDb users enthused over the films effects with one user calling them “mind-blowing.” They wrote: “This was a fantastic movie with mind-blowing special effects. Of course, Alita was directed by Robert Rodriguez and produced by James Cameron who lent Rodriquez the tech he used to create Avatar, and it shows.
“There are CGI films and then there is THIS, which surpasses many recent films in both quality and style. This film could have never been possible 20 years ago. There is just no way. The bad: while film was great, mainly for its special effects and visuals, and set up a world that is so rich with life and wonderment that it demands further exploration.”
Another reviewer who is a “longtime fan” of the source material – Gunnm – added: “I am satisfied. I appreciate the production team took their time to do the research of the original serials. The adaptation is great, they filtered out few “acquire taste” and swapped in elements that would make much more appeal to general public. The film really kept true to the original manga and reassembled almost everything from the manga the scenes, mechanical bodies, characters and the world they lived in.
“They did a great job on capturing Alita’s slightly naïve stubbornness, the “all in or all out” euthanasic, and the pursuit of who she is. Storywise, the film ingeniously weaved the first 11 books of manga together, brought up few events that was happening in the 2nd chapter of Alita’s adventure to the 1st movie. Which is nice since I bet they’re already thinking of the next Alita movie.”
