After being in development for God knows how long, 20th Century Fox has finally released an official trailer for Alita: Battle Angel, which is based on the manga Battle Angel Alita (or Gunnm in Japan, which translates to “Gun Dream.”) by Yukito Kishiro.

This is a film that could have very much been mistaken with something like Ghost in the Shell, which has very similar themes of cyborgs and lost memories. However, with Robert Rodriguez’s unique hand, it looks like we’re getting something very different.

Right off the bat, let’s talk about the elephant in the room. Alita looks creepy as hell. Clearly inspired by the look of the actual character in the manga, Rodriguez and co. decided to give her those very distinct anime eyes, and the results are…both distracting, yet mildly endearing, given that we’re supposed to get the impression that she feels different from everyone else.

However, I personally have to say, I dug this trailer. Given that this is set to be a big, unique visual effects driven opus, it would have been easy to capitalize solely on that. Look at a film like Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, where they made no effort to actually get us to care about the characters in the marketing. With this one, despite the outlandish setting or those crazy eyes, there’s an emotional throughline that’s easy to get.

Alita: Battle Angel is directed by Robert Rodriguez, and is shot from a script from James Camera, Laeta Kalogridis, and Robert Rodriguez. The film is produced by James Cameron and Jon Landau.

What do you think of this new trailer? Are you as much of a damn softy as me, or do you hate the look they chose for the character? Let us know your thoughts down below!

Alita: Battle Angel hits theaters on July 20, 2018.

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SOURCE: 20th Century Fox