Alita : Battle Angel (2019)

[Lucien21]

First Trailer for the James Cameron/Robert Rodriguez adaption of the popular Manga.

 

[BAYLOR]

I think ill skip this one.

 

[The Bluestocking]

Well, well, well - it looks like James Cameron has finally succeeded in bringing BATTLE ANGEL ALITA to the big screen:

Looks good: Stellar cast and no whitewashing complaints from me as an East Asian - the original manga was set in the 26th century former United States so this looks appropriate to it.

 

[BAYLOR]

I didn't caret for the anime .

 

[The Bluestocking]

@Brian G Turner I think there are 2 "Alita: Battle Angel" threads open. Could you merge both this one and the other one? Thanks!

 

[scarpelius]

It is a decent movie. I personally liked it.
In dire need of a sequel.

 

[Brian G Turner]

I'm not familiar with the anime, but when I saw the trailer first advertised on YouTube I thought the title might be a send up - a spoof film. However, having actually watched Trailer 2 now, I'm intrigued.

The question is, have they done a decent job with it?

 

[Overread]

From what I've heard they've done well with the film. I've not seen it, but the reviews from those who have and who are fans of the anime/manga say its a decent film though the overall view is that those with no back-story understanding might enjoy it more because they've changed some elements to make them fit into the timeframe.

It sounds like its done well for itself and might well have set itself up nicely for a sequel film. The Anime only covered a small portion of the overall manga story.

 

[scarpelius]

@Brian G Turner a well deserved 7.6 on imdb. Except for her eyes, there nothing too anime in the movie (well, it might be but I am no anime consumer so I wouldn't know). I felt it should have been a bit longer, to allow proper character development.

 

[Al Jackson]

It broke even , not sure that will give a sequel

 

[Rodders]

It's on my list of movies to watch, although I will probably wait to get the Blu-Ray.

 

[biodroid]

I watched it in 4DX and it was awesome, the movie was pretty good, excellent CG

 

[Starbeast]

I liked the anime version. But.......................the live action version is difficult for me to watch, because of her big spooky eyes.

For years, I like anime with big eyes, but those worrisome big eyes in this movie are creepy looking to me.

IF, I do see this film, I'm going to be uncomfortable viewing it.

 

[HareBrain]

I watched this yesterday on a flight. I thought it was decent visual entertainment but devoid of really interesting ideas. It got a big black mark for massively signposting a climax it never reached.

But did I miss something? Was there a plot reason for her big eyes? If not, what the hell was going on with that? Is it a military tactic to create warriors with big eyes so the enemy find them too cute to shoot at, like machine-gunning a puppy?

 

[Droflet]

I enjoyed it but appreciate that it's not for everyone's taste.

 

[Overread]

But did I miss something? Was there a plot reason for her big eyes? If not, what the hell was going on with that? Is it a military tactic to create warriors with big eyes so the enemy find them too cute to shoot at, like machine-gunning a puppy?

From what I understand in manga art (basically comics from Japan/the east) its an artistic style many of them use, oversized eyes. They often do it coupled with things like insane hair styles to help make the characters stand out and to exaggerate their facial expressions. It's part of the style, but I think its also used to help convey emotions and tell characters apart from each other as they often rely heavily on black and white drawing which can jump around a bit in terms of detail and quality.

So its sort of copy-catting the comic approach by having somewhat oversized eyes, though because we are not used to it in "realistic style CGI" it stands out a bit odd. If it were an animation or comic it would be something we'd "notice" but likely gloss over.

 

[HareBrain]

So its sort of copy-catting the comic approach by having somewhat oversized eyes

I get that, but why for just this one character (and in this one film: it's not like it's a feature of manga-derived movies generally)? All facial features and often body proportions are exaggerated in manga; why wasn't that done? Etc etc. It just seems arbitrary (because for live actors you don't need to exaggerate facial expression, or shouldn't) and, as Starbeast said, a bit creepy.

 

[Overread]

Yeah I'm not quite sure why they chose to do it only on her and not the others, it was an odd design choice. I've not seen the film yet but I know that her being seen as more of a child for the doctor who saves her is part of the original story arc so it might have been some part of that trying to be represented in a visual way?

 

[Toby Frost]

If it's any help, there was an android in one of the Space Captain Smith books built to "manga-spec", who had vast, saucer-like eyes and an insane level of enthusiasm for everything.

 

[Happy Joe]

Saw it from netflix; Quite enjoyably surprised at this movie; I am NOT a fan of Manga/Anime. but found the movie relatively impressive and entertaining (NOT a fan of teen character movies either)...
Its worth a rental/stream, IMO : I would give it a solid 4 out of 5 stars.

Enjoy!