MOVIE REVIEW: Alita: Battle Angel

Let’s get one thing straight. Alita is not gonna win the Oscar anytime soon. Let’s get another thing straight. The Oscars are overrated and suck. I personally think they like to sniff Michael Moore’s pizza farts. For the most part, movies that win the Oscars are extremely boring to watch.

Alita: Battle Angel is a live-action adaptation of a popular manga and it’s a great movie. According to a friend of mine who follows the Japanese comic, it’s close to canon so it shouldn’t upset even the most loyal fans. In other words, Robert Rodriguez, the director, doesn’t give the Alita franchise the middle finger, which is what Rian Johnson did to Star Wars fans with The Last Jedi. An all-star team, spearheaded by James Cameron, produced this movie, and they did a great job. I’ll reiterate my stance that this movie is great. In fact, it’s so great I’ll most likely buy it and watch it again in the theaters.

The amazing part of Alita is the animation. The main character is 100% animated and interacts with live action actors convincingly throughout the entire movie. The animators claim that this has never been done. It doesn’t matter if it’s true or not, because it’s completely flawless. We know Alita isn’t real because of her big eyes and skinny robotic stature – but she looks authentic, and you really don’t question it all throughout the movie.

Alita is a violent movie, so I’m not sure if it’s kid’s appropriate. Unlike many other Superheroes, this is a heroine who does not hesitate to kill, and sometimes, in the most grotesque ways. But thank god that we have a protagonist that actually kills the bad guy, right? I’m sick and tired of heroes letting bad dudes live another day, so they can fight another day.

For all my conservative fans out there, there’s close to zero Social Justice Warrior narratives in this movie. You do get a little of that 1% versus the 99% in here, but that’s canon to the original Alita storyline. Alita is not like The Force Awakens. Unlike Rey, Alita is a good fighter because she trained, not just because she is a woman and the “Force is Female.” It’s not a “Woman Power” movie, even though the hero is female and she’s powerful.

I have a feeling many critics may be too critical of the characters and storyline, but the movie is entertaining from beginning to end, and that’s really all that counts in the end. I’ll definitely do a Maverick Review on this movie, it’s worth breaking everything in more details, with spoilers, to explain why it works.

GRADE: A

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Steve Young

I go by either "Steven" or "Steve" it really doesn't matter. I'm not a professional screenwriter anymore, so there's no need to suck up to me and send me your latest script. I have zero ambition to work in the entertainment industry. I'm now just a regular guy who knows a bit about storytelling, wants to share that knowledge to inspire new writers, and to share my work with everyone!