Alita: Battle Angel Early Reviews Are Mixed

Alita: Battle Angel is the latest manga adaptation to grace Hollywood. By and large, this is a genre that has not been serviced very well by the industry, as there is a tendency to overly-adapt certain elements for cultural reasons and whitewash the cast. The result has seen films like Ghost in the Shell and Dragon Ball Evolution flop into theaters (though I’d argue that movies like Speed Racer and Death Note are better than they’re generally given credit for).

The film hits from director Robert Rodriguez, perhaps best known for his work on the Sin City films alongside artist Frank Miller. But, of course, I know him for his excellent work on early action flicks like Desperado, and dare I say, The Faculty. With Alita: Battle Angel, is bringing to life a vision from producer James Cameron, who simply could not find it in his schedule to put this movie out, what with his 17 Avatar movies on the way. So how did this adaptation fare?

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Well, it appears to be a bit of a mixed bag. I’ll start out with some choice words from our own Gig Patta, who had a chance to check out the film in advance of his interview with director Robert Rodriguez, star Rosa Salazar, and producer Jon Landau (keep an eye out for those). Here’s what he had to say:

“Alita is a film full of imagination that proved to be better and more comprehensible than the manga source material. However, the film may be too aggressive trying to push too many storylines into one movie that spans over two hours.”

So, in short, Gig enjoyed the world and narrative, but felt it may have been a bit too ambitious for its own good. And from the sound of it, this is a sentiment most other critics can get behind.

The Verge‘s review says the film is “a worldbuilding triumph and a storytelling failure,” and io9 calls the film unfocused, going on to say:

“Unfortunately, most of the movie fails to meet the standard that Salazar sets with her performance. Alita: Battle Angel is both too much and not enough, overstuffing the plot with needless exposition dumps while ignoring actual character development.”

AV Film seemed to like the movie a bit more, going on to praise it as being Rodriguez’s best film in a long while, but even they had to acknowledge some of the problems that plagued it.

“Like so many expensive fantasies, Alita: Battle Angel feels burdened by dreams of a franchise that may never materialize. But if a series does come to pass, Rodriguez should stick around. However briefly, big-budget filmmaking has synced up with his playground aesthetic.”

So, on the whole, it sounds like Alita: Battle Angel is a far from perfect action film, but that’s not to say it’s a trainwreck either. The world Rodriguez has built seems to be a big hit, and the major problems seem to stem from their desire to cram too much in and try too hard to build a foundation for more stories to come.

I know either way I’ll be in theaters to check the flick out. What about you? Let us know your thoughts down below!

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SOURCE: Various (Linked above)

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