Alita: Battle Angel
Director: Robert Rodriguez
Writers: James Cameron, Laeta Kalogridis
Stars: Rosa Salazar, Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly
Robert Rodriguez has given on-screen Sci-Fi a new and advanced reality. His best work since Sin City. Sci-Fi is his strong suit. Bringing the worlds, we read and breathing life into them and creating a new tech world that you experience in theaters. In the one night only screening, at Disney Springs Dine-In Theater, we were so graciously allowed to see the one of a kind film. Adapting to the Yukito Kushiro Manga with a modern day twist James Cameron and Robert Rodriguez have created a realistic world future. Three hundred years after “The Fall” you still see old architecture and farming for food is always a necessity. Rosa Salazar who stars as Alita gives audiences a relatable and truthful future with an empowering female role. Displaying that life still has hardship, war, and pain. Check out the trailer below.
The film starts when Dr. Ido (Christopher Waltz) is searching for parts in the scrapyard outside of Iron City. He discovers half of a cyborg in the rubble. She has almost no body, but her heart and her brain are still miraculously intact. Putting her back together with a spare body he had in his basement he is overjoyed and becomes protective of her. She awakens and can not remember a thing about herself. Ido gives her the name Alita until she can remember who she is. Teaching her and loving her you get a sense of fatherhood and yet an undertone of something is wrong. You quickly discover that no matter how nice people are in Iron City they all can have a dark and sinister side.
Like all young girls, Alita is curious and wants to have fun. She meets a boy named Hugo and falls for him. Hugo teaches her the local culture and captivates her with the main sport that drives the city, Motorball. This dangerous and invigorating sport combines NASCAR, roller derby and a token to the Mesoamerican ballgame, played since 1400B.C. Its dangerous and yet creates such a rush of adrenaline that she can’t resist the urge to be near it.
All urges become harder to resist as she realizes there is more to who she is and Ido isn’t telling her. A cyborg built for so much more than an average bot. She is attracted to danger and strives to protect those that she cares about. Powerful, more than anyone could imagine. Alita faces many trials of love and cunning fighting for what’s right. The film gives you twists and turns that keep you on the edge of your seat. With the new digital technology, it isn’t hard to feel like you are there in the film.
Mangas such as Alita Battle Angel, show powerful female characters and a futuristic world that we as readers hope to dive in. Robert Rodriguez created a four-dimensional world for audiences from this manga. The beauty of this film doesn’t touch the art that the manga has, however, it’s a new innovative and modern take on Yukito Kushiro’s story. I would recommend the film to everyone. Soon to be released this Thursday, Feb. 14th. You can purchase tickets on ticket master and Fandango as well as your local AMC Theatre.
Alita: Battle Angel
A deactivated female cyborg is revived, but cannot remember anything of her past life and goes on a quest to find out who she is.
Michelle Tongue
Pop culture journalist and gamer who loves to cook. I am obsessed with Star Wars and Unicorns. I love traveling to different cons so catch you out there.
