Alita: Battle Angel

[Khev]

I came away from my first viewing feeling like Alita was mostly a combination of Ghost in the Shell, Real Steel, and Elysium, all of which the original Alita manga and anime *did* precede.

And Alita was better than all three of those other films by a wide margin.

Did it precede Pinocchio and Rollerball? No. But who the hell is going to fault any story that puts *those* two movies together, lol. That's certainly a combo we've never seen before.

 

[Ehollywood]

I'm also surprised that WETA hasn't announced any statues even though they worked on the movie. Just some vinyl figures and a replica Damascus Blade.

Their LOTR statues are incredible, so I'd happily buy a statue of Alita from them!

The Lifesize Alita statues they had at their booth during last years comic con were Awesome. Wish I had one of those

 

[The Buffinator]

I came away from my first viewing feeling like Alita was mostly a combination of Ghost in the Shell, Real Steel, and Elysium, all of which the original Alita manga and anime *did* precede.

And Alita was better than all three of those other films by a wide margin.

Did it precede Pinocchio and Rollerball? No. But who the hell is going to fault any story that puts *those* two movies together, lol. That's certainly a combo we've never seen before.

I wasn’t criticizing it for lifting elements from those films, merely pointing it out. It was more that I was hoping for a completely original cinematic experience & was a bit disappointed when that wasn’t the case. Probably unrealistic of me to expect that anyway.

As for Pinocchio & Rollerball, it probably says more about my age than anything. Most of their target audience probably had to Google those to get the reference. Lol

 

[rushmore223]

I came away from my first viewing feeling like Alita was mostly a combination of Ghost in the Shell, Real Steel, and Elysium, all of which the original Alita manga and anime *did* precede.

And Alita was better than all three of those other films by a wide margin.

Did it precede Pinocchio and Rollerball? No. But who the hell is going to fault any story that puts *those* two movies together, lol. That's certainly a combo we've never seen before.

Yeah, and most movies borrow elements/are derivative of other movies, I'm willing to bet most films everyone of us love have been done before to some degree. ...and that was true before movies too, happens in all ways people have of telling stories.


Guess I was late on that reply.



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[ActionJackson83]

If WETA released the lifesize with the white body in her street clothes and all its intricate engravings I would try to save up to buy it, the plating design is awesome and full of details

 

[The Buffinator]

Yeah, and most movies borrow elements/are derivative of other movies, I'm willing to bet most films everyone of us love have been done before to some degree. ...and that was true before movies too, happens in all ways people have of telling stories.

Guess I was late on that reply.

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No question that movies are always borrowing from previous ones. Probably 99% of the movies I've loved over the years were derivative in some form or another.

As I alluded to in my earlier post, it was some elements of the story that I thought came up a bit short. Namely,

Spoiler

1. Alita's early exploration of Iron City and her infatuation with Hugo felt rushed. Plus there was no character development for Hugo's friends. I get that there was probably pressure to get this thing down to a 2 hour run time, but I think a bit more in this area would have helped. Maybe it'll be in the Director's Cut.
2. It was all too obvious that Hugo was the ringleader of the group attacking androids for their parts. Hugo's saying he needed to go "take care of something" before each of these attacks was unnecessary. I know this movie isn't a mystery, but IMO some level of surprise would have been nice, as it would have made the reveal of his betrayal to Alita more impactful to the audience.
3. Alita's literally taking her heart out of her body and offering it to Hugo elicited eye rolls from EVERYONE in the theatre (And I can say that with confidence as there was only five of us). Some things are better when they're just implied...
4. Hugo's death scene elicited more eye rolls. Alita spent what seemed like an eternity begging him to stop climbing that connecting tube and come down with her, but she doesn't warn him about the giant Death Rings that wiped out her entire battalion & relegated her to the scrap heap where Dyson found her? This definitely could have been handled better.

 

[Khev]

For whatever it's worth the

Spoiler

taking her heart out and offering it to Hugo

scene was lifted directly from the manga. That doesn't mean you have to like how it was done of course, but it was honoring the source material.

I didn't have a problem with those other things you mentioned (I even thought they were well done) however I can see how they would be considered cringeworthy to others.

 

[The Buffinator]

For whatever it's worth the

Spoiler

taking her heart out and offering it to Hugo

scene was lifted directly from the manga. That doesn't mean you have to like how it was done of course, but it was honoring the source material.

I didn't have a problem with those other things you mentioned (I even thought they were well done) however I can see how they would be considered cringeworthy to others.

Those things didn't ruin the movie for me (I still enjoyed it), I just think a few minor tweaks/additions to the script would have done wonders.

I do wish I'd read the manga before seeing it. But then again, usually I'm an even harsher critic when I can compare movies to their source material, so perhaps it's for the best that I didn't.

 

[epitaph04]

^^^Yeah im putting off reading the manga for that exact reason.


I felt that the heart scene was surprisingly okay. I mean a naive amnesiac android wouldn’t be totally aware of how strange something like that would be to a human, so the scene was maybe awkward as it really would be in real life.

The movie definitely does feel rushed in parts, like the studio insisted on a strict run time. Definitely looking forward to a hopeful extended cut.

 

[Khev]

Yeah I'm only delving into the manga after the fact. I'm guessing that those well versed in it prior to seeing the movie might have felt that the film was a little too abridged (despite almost exactly following the OVA scene for scene minus the motorball and flashback sequences.)

For instance I do like how in the manga

Spoiler

the acquisition of Alita's body parts is more prolonged. When Ido finds her head he doesn't have a ready made body for her and must continue to scavenge and earn money bounty huntinng to get her legs, arms, and torso. In fact that's what initially prompts Alita to assume that he's out murdering women since every time a woman dies Alita seemingly has new limbs to use. She can't stomach the fact that girls might be dying for her sake so that's why she follows him once she's fully put together.

Not knowing any of that I thought the way it played out on screen was totally fine but could see how a manga fan might feel it was lacking. Always the nature of the beast when adapting literary works that span thousands of pages though.

 

[Khev]

^^^Yeah im putting off reading the manga for that exact reason.


I felt that the heart scene was surprisingly okay. I mean a naive amnesiac android wouldn’t be totally aware of how strange something like that would be to a human, so the scene was maybe awkward as it really would be in real life.

The movie definitely does feel rushed in parts, like the studio insisted on a strict run time. Definitely looking forward to a hopeful extended cut.

Yeah an extended cut would be awesome. And I agree about the heart scene. It fit her character and her "wow, that was intense" to me at least nicely de-escalated the inherent silliness and cringeworthy naivety that might have otherwise overshadowed it. I would even daresay that it was a spot on metaphor for the "too much too soon, all in" nature of teenage love. Obviously Buffinator disagrees, heh heh.

 

[WhoaItsJBot]

I don't find that silly at all, I think it was a nice sentiment and gesture. She meant it both emotionally and physically, willing to sell it to fund their passage to Zalem.

 

[rushmore223]

^^^Yeah im putting off reading the manga for that exact reason.


I felt that the heart scene was surprisingly okay. I mean a naive amnesiac android wouldn’t be totally aware of how strange something like that would be to a human, so the scene was maybe awkward as it really would be in real life.

The movie definitely does feel rushed in parts, like the studio insisted on a strict run time. Definitely looking forward to a hopeful extended cut.

She's got the mind of a teenage girl, and instant infatuation and intense declarations of love (like the heart scene) are totally appropriate for that age. As teenagers, I'm sure you, or at least most of us, were much more syrupy and corny with our way of speaking, love will do that to you at a young age. I know I cringe at some of the things I said and ways I acted as a teenager and in my young twenties, especially when it came to girls.

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[The Buffinator]

^^^Yeah im putting off reading the manga for that exact reason.


I felt that the heart scene was surprisingly okay. I mean a naive amnesiac android wouldn’t be totally aware of how strange something like that would be to a human, so the scene was maybe awkward as it really would be in real life.

The movie definitely does feel rushed in parts, like the studio insisted on a strict run time. Definitely looking forward to a hopeful extended cut.

Yeah an extended cut would be awesome. And I agree about the heart scene. It fit her character and her "wow, that was intense" to me at least nicely de-escalated the inherent silliness and cringeworthy naivety that might have otherwise overshadowed it. I would even daresay that it was a spot on metaphor for the "too much too soon, all in" nature of teenage love. Obviously Buffinator disagrees, heh heh.

I must admit you two make very good points, but I still think it came off sillier than was intended. Of course my attending the film with people whose cynicism dwarfs that of my own may have influenced my opinion ever so slightly.

I don't find that silly at all, I think it was a nice sentiment and gesture. She meant it both emotionally and physically, willing to sell it to fund their passage to Zalem.

When she made that gesture, we're supposed to assume that she'd find herself a backup power cell first, correct? Because otherwise I'd question the long term viability of her plan.

 

[Medusoid]

Not knowing any of that I thought the way it played out on screen was totally fine but could see how a manga fan might feel it was lacking. Always the nature of the beast when adapting literary works that span thousands of pages though.

I read the manga years ago. I was initially annoyed by this change, but then I realized why they had to do it. In the comics, Ido was killing other cyborgs and using their parts for Alita. In one particularly shocking panel, we see that those beautiful, intricate arms actually came from a cyborg prostitute walking the streets he had brutally murdered. Can you imagine if you saw that on the big screen? Nobody would like Ido. He wouldn't be this sympathetic, fatherly character - rather a cold blooded murderer who comes off like being a complete psychopath.

Ido has his own motivations for doing this (mainly that Alita is the one pure, beautiful thing he has seen from his exile in the Scrapyard and he wants to make her 'perfect' and protect her at all costs) and it might be considered 'noble' to some, but he was still killing others just for Alita's sake. I don't think this would've worked in the movie unless they set him up for some sort of 'redemption' arc, but the movie was too bloated as it was. So I can see why they made such a drastic change.

 

[Zurdo95D]

I recently watched this film and I absolutely am enthralled. First off, d'aaaawwwwww Alita is so cuteee, and ridiculously adorableeeeee I was invested in her throughout the film and Rosa Salazar did a fantastic job.


Some things I wanted to jot down:

Spoiler

- Nice to see Dr. King Schultz (from Django Unchained) still take up bounty hunting, LOL
- As described by others, the setting of the film is a sci-fi heaven, and I liked its atmosphere
- I was interested to know more about Alita's past life, as her flashback scenes were intriguing
- Outstanding portrayal of the father/daughter relationship between Alita and Dr. Ido
- Seeing how OP she is using the initial body Dr. Ido gave her, after she gained her berserker body I was expecting her to show even more power
- Her relationship with Hugo did not feel fully fleshed out, it would've felt better if it remained amiable
- I would've liked to seen Hugo's reaction to his new body after his injury
- The action scenes are well done, violence and gore galore (albeit through robotic bodies, however the dog scene is sad)
- Jennifer Connelly has still got it going on
- After the ending I was left wanting more; it felt as if it were a cutoff scene, and I am highly anticipating the continuation
- Did I mention Alita is supppeeerrrrrrrrr cute?!?!?!? Not just the eyes, but her overall persona.
- I would've liked to have seen a glimpse of Zalem, however I think it's being saved for the continuation.

How can you not love her?

 

[generalszabo]

Yep consessions have to be made when adapting to the big screen, and the books are normally better. This is a great companion to the manga though

 

[rushmore223]

Yeah, I am sure there was much edited out of the film. Maybe we'll be graced with a extended edition.

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[WhoaItsJBot]

I could watch a 4 hour extended edition and wouldn't even bat an eye about it.

 

[Shoo]

I read the manga years ago. I was initially annoyed by this change, but then I realized why they had to do it. In the comics, Ido was killing other cyborgs and using their parts for Alita. In one particularly shocking panel, we see that those beautiful, intricate arms actually came from a cyborg prostitute walking the streets he had brutally murdered. Can you imagine if you saw that on the big screen? Nobody would like Ido. He wouldn't be this sympathetic, fatherly character - rather a cold blooded murderer who comes off like being a complete psychopath.

Ido has his own motivations for doing this (mainly that Alita is the one pure, beautiful thing he has seen from his exile in the Scrapyard and he wants to make her 'perfect' and protect her at all costs) and it might be considered 'noble' to some, but he was still killing others just for Alita's sake. I don't think this would've worked in the movie unless they set him up for some sort of 'redemption' arc, but the movie was too bloated as it was. So I can see why they made such a drastic change.

You got that all wrong - Ido is definitely not doing that nor is he a psychopath.

Mild manga spoiler:

Spoiler

That's what we're initially led to believe, so that we think as Alita does, but then it's made clear that it's actually a female serial killer who's killing other females just because, and that Ido just happened to be buying parts of those victims at the factory. As a hunter-warrior, he does kill criminals, though.