Alita: Battle Angel

Sci-fi for girls, in a good way. At least for girls who want to be like Ripley. Rodriguez populates Cameron’s fantasy world with living, breathing characters with the soul of a cyborg. The action is coherent and easy to follow; the fight in the bar is just genius. The romantic storyline is pretty weird, but it works well. Rosa Salazar grabs you with her big eyes and doesn’t let go. This is evidently just the first episode, as it is obviously a prelude, and I want to see more, so I hope Alita is a hit. (19/02/2019)

I think that on paper, it must have seemed as a huge risk to put Robert Rodriguez in charge of such a gigantic project with a gigantic budget. But taking risks sometimes pays off, and I must say that Rodriguez has done a really good job with Alita. A beautiful cyberpunk movie from the distant future, which is imaginative, beautifully animated and, above all, full of bizarre (almost b-rated) ideas, which no one else but Rodriguez would have come up with. I had a great time and I think this movie turned out really well. An exemplary blockbuster with all the goodies that a blockbuster can offer. This includes actors, where I was the most pleased with, albeit animated, the leading actress Rosa Salazar, as well as her dad played by Christoph Waltz. Rodriguez put a bit of everything he’s made so far into this film. Absurdity, emotions, animated beauty, but also some Spy Kids vibe which I can forgive him for. Alitais simply a success and I enjoyed it to the fullest. (22/11/2019)

A surprisingly dynamic and compact film peppered with sci-fi flourishes and clear action from a trash director who took a break from his typically familiar garage movies. You can see the typical B-movie feeling of a dirty city and all those strange robo-human creatures, but at the same time there is Cameron's supervision, especially during the key parts of the main story, or when the camera pans over the city in the sky, or the wild car track. I wish all those wannabe sci-fi/cyberpunk creations of recent years, led by Ghost in the Shell, looked this lush and fresh. (22/07/2019)

This fast-paced action sci-fi fairy-tale with heart is held together by Alita, who is surprisingly the most vivid of the characters. Super cute! The nice daddy Waltz was also fine. Other character would benefit from more screen time, as that would give the movie more complexity, which it slightly lacks. And I’m not talking only about deepening the character of super MILF Connelly and similarly important characters, but also about some space for funny supporting types like the cowboy Fahey. He definitely had more space in the screenplay. Anyhow, the movie is a roller-coaster ride alternating emotions with spectacular action, and the fights leading to the transition of a fragile girl into the ultimate fighter will take your breath away. I was completely satisfied and am willing to watch it again in Atmos or IMAX. The Japanese are going to love this. (08/02/2019)

A tarted-up lot of nothing that’s nice to look at. The visuals are unsurprisingly superb, Rodríguez’s direction is surprisingly solid and focused, and the robotic/computer generated main character is very likeable. I wouldn’t have a problem with it overall, if, somewhere in the middle, I hadn’t realised that the film not only wasn’t moving towards the central clash, but that it would also elegantly avoid it. To be continued, basically. (08/02/2019)