[Review XN] Film 25: ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL

"I do not standby in the presence of evil!"

Do you know that James Cameron (Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Titanic) has been eager to work on Alita: Battle Angel from two decades ago? Yes, he was smitten by the source material in the form of several volumes written by Yukito Kishiro and has tried several times to make it happen, but he was constantly hit by other projects. One of the projects that hinders it is Avatar (2009) along with its sequels that we don't see. There is a very long journey that must be traversed by this film which contains an overhaul of the script along with a team overhaul. After being in the development hell phase (read: continue to be developed but it is unclear when it will be realized) for a dozen years, Mr Cameron finally found a way so that his favorite project did not run in place and could soon be born as soon as possible. The solution he later undertook was to hand over the directing chair of Alita: Battle Angel to Robert Rodriguez (Desperado, Spy Kids), while he directly monitored the production process from the producer chair. A win-win solution, right? Alita: Battle Angel can finally be served as a spectacle on the big screen under the director's handling who has been famous thanks to his skill in concocting the action scenes. Nothing, the film has sounded tempting to try thanks to the collaboration of these two maestros who seemed to promise that this was not an ordinary show of escapism. This is a cinematic experience that must be tested. But is it really that big a potential that can be achieved?

In Alita: Battle Angel, the audience was carried off to 2563 and then introduced to a cyborg named Alita (played very well by Rosa Salazar using motion capture techniques) who was unable to remember her past. Alita was discovered by Dr. Dyson Ido (Christoph Waltz) in a landfill is destroyed and leaves only the brain and the core working. In order to give this woman a new life, Ido brought her to her workplace and "rearranged" Alita's body by placing it on a mechanical body so as to enable her to be as normal as a cyborg. In his journey to dig deeper into his past identity, Alita became acquainted with Hugo (Keean Johnson) who made him fall in love, practiced playing motorball which was the most popular extreme sport, and registered himself as a bounty hunter following in the footsteps of his adopted father who was forced to undergo this profession as a side to get money. Alita herself has a special reason that encourages her to join as a bounty hunter, i.e. she can see the flash from the past every time she acts. His actions were quite amazing - especially Alita mastered special movements that no one could carelessly do - immediately caught the attention of the local ruler, Vector (Mahershala Ali) - who then recruited him as one of the players in the professional motorball league. Alita's innocence made her accept this offer happily without ever suspecting Vector who was secretly preparing an evil plan.

Since Alita: Battle Angel was handled by Robert Rodriguez and received a helping hand from James Cameron, it was certainly no longer a surprise when I discovered that this film had an impressive and elaborate action element. Isn't that the element that is expected to stand out most from Alita: Battle Angel? And if your expectation when you step into the cinema is simply to get an exciting show of escapism, then all your expectations will be fulfilled easily here. The film shows the best side when Rodriguez did not hesitate to offer us a fight, shootout, and other acts full of violence. From the first time Alita confronted the bounty hunters (referred to as the Pemb Knight Hunters ’) where she realized her hidden talents, the audience was amazed by the fun choreography of her song. What's more, the filmmaker is also reluctant to compromise with a rating of 13+ so that the violent scenes shown can be quite as obvious as how he shows bodies stripped down even though the context is of course a cyborg and does not display red blood. Even so, Rodriguez was able to bring his own pleasure for Alita: Battle Angel following his decision not to soften, including how he created a showdown in an intensity bar (plus his style, of course!) Would remind his previous films and the brutality of motorball games that more or less sent memories to Rollerball (1975/2002).

Yes, there are many things that remind us of other films when watching Alita: Battle Angel. This includes portrayals of the city of Zalem that are tethered to hovering over Iron City which makes me feel nostalgic about Elysium (2013), Alita's figure who resembles Motoko from Ghost in the Shell (2017), to her narrative that might sound "cool!" In the 1990s but for now it feels no different from a series of young adult novel film adaptations set in the future. Which then becomes the question, is this the main obstacle for Alita: Battle Angel to stand out as imagined by James Cameron? Well, I personally do not consider familiarity to be the weak point of this film - even I have no problem with similarity as long as it is well worked on. Interference with the film arises when he steps away from the arena of Alita's battle and chooses to focus on his personal life including his extraordinarily cheesy affair. I am still okay with Alita-Ido's interaction even though I hope to be explored in more depth, but I really want to mess up so much every time Alita tries to make out with Hugo using dialogues that are astaganagaaa (dialogue about "take my heart" makes speechless anyway ) plus tasteless chemistry. When translated into anime this subplot might still work, but live action ... duh, the disturbing level is enough to absorb the energy of the film that has been thrown by the elements of the song. Instantly, the film feels boring. Fortunately, Alita: Battle Angel is blessed with visuals and fantastic game arrangements so that she can treat boredom (and grievances) due to the love story of the two lovebirds.

Exceeds Expectations ( 3.5 / 5 )