Although there are some fun sequences and genuine wonder to behold, director Robert Rodriguez‘ ALITA BATTLE ANGEL is mostly familiar, noisy, visual mayhem with a thin plot and even thinner characters.
ALITA BATTLE ANGEL takes place in 2563, 300 years after The Fall, a future where society is split into two halves: those who enjoy the sweet life of Zalem, a bountiful floating city in the sky, and the street-dwellers below in Iron City, who exist suspiciously like those in the world of last year’s READY PLAYER ONE, scraping and hustling to make ends meet. Christoph Waltz stars as Dr. Dyson Ido, a scientist who repairs cybernetic human appendages, which appear to be in big demand in the future. He’s introduced scavenging a junkyard for parts, where he digs up the head and torso of a young cyborg girl who, while badly damaged, is still alive. After Ido repairs her, she has no memory of who she is or where she came from. He names her after his late daughter Alita, and it’s soon clear she was once some sort of accomplished cyber-warrior. Everyone desires to reside in Zalem, but unless you’re well-connected, the only way to get there is by becoming champion at the popular roller-derby-esque sport known as Motorball, which is a lot like Rollerball if James Caan’s head had been grafted onto Optimus Prime. Alita soon begins exploring the world, gets a hunky boyfriend (Keean Johnson), and falls into the clutches of Dr. Ido’s ex-wife Chiren (Jennifer Connelly) and Vector (Mahershala Ali), the leaders of Iron City, who want to use her latent skills for their own nefarious purposes.
Perhaps the genesis story for ALITA BATTLE ANGEL was fresh and groundbreaking when it first appeared in Yukito Kishiro’s graphic novel back in 1990. In the decades since, filmmakers have presented similar themes, concepts and imagery, a lot of which are now so commonplace in these big-budget, CGI-focused extravaganzas that there’s not much new here that separates this film from the dystopian sci-fi crowd. The many CGI robot battles are clearly the focus of ALITA BATTLE ANGEL, and while they’re technically impressive (especially in eye-popping IMAX and 3D), visual snazziness alone isn’t enough to carry the film. The constant use of androids in back alleys striking battle poses grows quickly tiresome. Rodriguez has always been ambitious with his visuals, working wonders with medium-size budgets, yet while ALITA BATTLE ANGEL purportedly cost close to $200 million, the director’s style seems less inventive here than with his cheaper films.
A motion-captured Rosa Salazar as Alita is outstanding, delivering just enough charm and humanity to make Alita a fully-realized CGI character. Veteran actor Christoph Waltz has fun with his role as the caring scientist/creator, though he seems to be retreading previous performances. While I did enjoy Jeff Fahey in a small role as a cyberdog-loving cowboy bounty hunter, the villains, especially a sneering Ed Skrein as head creep Zapan, are mundane, with little dimension or character arc. This is especially problematic since the film is a heroine’s journey and we truly want to see her vanquish more worthy adversaries. Jackie Earle Haley and Jai Courtney (or their heads at least) are underused as robot noggins. There’s a lot to look at in ALITA BATTLE ANGEL, and its young target audience may be entertained, but it’s just not a fresh enough film to sway anyone who has grown tired of this genre.
2 1/2 of 5 Stars
