Directed by: Robert Rodriguez
Runtime: 122 minutes
Full disclosure: I saw this film with a blocked nose and fever, shivering in the cinema seat. Out of a lot of passion for my small reviewing career, and a slight bit of stubbornness, I went to the Brisbane preview screening of Alita: Battle Angel despite being best off cuddled at home, in bed. With only a choc-top to keep me company (yes, I understand I shouldn’t have eaten ice-cream with the flu. Self-destruction is my forte) and a pocketful of tissues to sustain me, I embarked on my live-action anime journey. I tell you this because I am not sure if I enjoyed this film so thoroughly because of—or despite—my ailments.
Alita: Battle Angel follows a big-eyed, teenage cyborg. After being rescued by Dr. Dyson Ido (Christoph Waltz)—here known as a cybernetic surgeon instead of a vacuum-cleaner tycoon—she has to adjust to her new home, remember her past life, and play some extreme sports. The plot feels a lot like a collection of manga chapters; small victories are won throughout some great set-pieces, and it seems like the filmmakers did not dare to meddle with the source material to make it more ‘film-shaped’. While this property may have worked better as a high-quality television series, I still didn’t find the pacing of the film too jarring and found myself plodding through the story just fine. This all culminates in an ending that is more of a franchise-building exercise than a true conclusion to the plot, but with the way the film was structured I honestly didn’t mind.
I feel like I was more forgiving of Alita: Battle Angel‘s franchise set-up because, even without a solid ending, the film was incredibly enjoyable. I found myself thoroughly entertained by interesting world-building and steampunk aesthetics. As someone who was already mostly brain-dead when watching the film, the plot was secondary to the interesting visuals and the kick-ass fight scenes that were scattered throughout the film. I didn’t care why Alita suddenly wanted to play motorball (a violent, gladitorial roller-skating sport that her kinda-dad disapproves of), just how cool it looked while she was doing it. The villains mostly consisted of machine-people with awesome fighting abilities, with the exception of Ed Skrein’s bounty hunter (who completely ate the steampunk scenery in all his brief, fantastic moments). Basically, shiny things made me feel nice.
There were a few flaws that would probably impact on the film’s rewatchability (even as a sick-day movie). Firstly, Alita’s boyfriend, Hugo, never really hits the mark for me. The film makes us want to believe he has a ‘dark side’ and is ‘troubled’ at points, despite the fact he, for the most part, follows Alita around like a puppy and is put into the damsel-in-distress role more than once. Also, characters seem to do a complete 180 of their core values at the flick of a switch—Daddy Dyson is protective of Alita, only to be fine with enrolling her in a sport he hates, ‘evil’ characters turn good because they see teenage tears, and our heroine chooses an arch-enemy because she fought him in an alleyway once. These things might annoy me if I was to catch the movie again, but on my first viewing, I was able to turn a blind eye to the plot holes and character choices as long as they looked interesting while flip-flopping on their morals.
Basically, the film is as dumb as a rock but fun as hell. Do you want to see robots blow up other robots, without having to pay any more money into the Transformers franchise? Do you want some interesting ideas around robotics without an ensuing existential breakdown? Do you want to watch an entertaining film while your head feels like it is filled with fluid? Then this is the film for you. Of all the films I could have attended a screening for in my condition, I was glad it was this one. Here’s hoping that, for the sequel, I am able to turn off my brain in a similar fashion and enjoy the ride.
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