Film Review - Alita: Battle Angel

Part Matrix, a dose of Elysium, a sprinkle of Pinocchio, a dash of Running Man and a whole lot of Rollerball are the key borrows that come together to form a true James Cameron project in Alita: Battle Angel. The events take place in 2563 or 300 years after THE FALL where invaders from Mars attacked leaving the earth in the state of a Dystopian wasteland except for the Beautiful floating city of Zalem with the working class plugs and hustlers inhabiting the wild west like Iron City below. Dr. Dyson Ito (Christoph Waltz) is rummaging through the scrapyard for parts for patients that require cybernetic replacement body parts when he finds the head and core of a still alive teenage cyborg girl. He brings her home attaches a body that he had made for other purposes bringing Alita (Rosa Salazar) back to full being status with a clean slate in a position to start a new path.

However, Alita is drawn to violence an imprint from her past then when she follows her adoptive dad out one evening more of her abilities along with some flashes from her past are revealed making her determined to find out who she is. Her search intensifies when she encounters an abandoned 300- year- old ship warship to which she has an obvious connection.

Director Robert Rodriguez under the watchful eye of co-writer and producer James Cameron brings the 90's era Yukito Kishiro Japanese Magna to life. Alita is the best to date application of uncanny valley human simulation. She's a robot featuring those telltale large CG eyes but the movement and micro differences not as unnerving as in the past. Alita blends seamlessly into scenes with her fully human cast members Dr. Ito and her love interest Hugo (Keean Johnson) who brings parts and supplies to the doctor while on the side works for Vector (Mahershala Ali) providing parts for competitors in the cities main sport Motorball sometimes taking them from unfortunate targets that are still using them.

Alita:Battle Angel is an action filled Sci-fi tale of a teenage girl with human frailties trying to find out who she is. It's another in a strong series of young women empowerment films that will show girls a strong positive image of themselves that will culminate with Brie Larson in March's Captain Marvel. The  story is a classic one of rising up that is heavily influenced but that does not take away from the fact that the film is a big production that works despite some early well-documented set backs making it one that I can definitely recommend.

*** 1/2 Out of 4.

Alita: Battle Angel | Robert Rodriguez | U.S.A | 2019 | 122 Minutes.

Tags: Sci-Fi, 26th Century, Dystopia, Cybernetics, Japanese Magna, Teenage Gir, Warrior, Death Sport, Bounty Hunter, Floating City, Class System.