Alita: Battle Angel (Review)

I'd been looking forward to seeing this movie since the very first trailer dropped. The massive mangaverse seems to be a treasure trove of wonderful titles just waiting to be discovered. The adaptation process hasn't always gone so flawlessly (a la "Ghost in the Shell"), but less bad press seemed to follow this project around so it seemed like it was at least off to a good start. It helped that it was a passion project anchored by none other than James Cameron; this didn't seem like the usual fare for director Robert Rodriguez, but I was willing to bet that their partnership would yield a great movie.

The movie is set in a bleak dystopian future already alluded to so well in the trailers. It is a tale of two cities as the dregs of humanity congregate in Iron City while a select few live in the floating city of Zalem (very much similar to the dichotomy displayed in Astro Boy when it comes to "Metro City"). Within the scrapyard of Iron City, Dr. Ido (Christoph Waltz) discovers the core remains of a cyborg, whom he takes home and rehabilitates. Since she is basically a blank slate, struck with a severe case of amnesia, he decides to name her Alita and acts as her surrogate father. As expected, he is overly protective of her as Iron City is very much a lawless land; he is also aware that there is more to Alita than meets the eye, something that would make her an easy mark for people trying to exploit her.

A fair deal of the story was shown in the trailers that preceded its release, but that still does not detract from the experience of watching the movie. Its creators have excelled at the massive task of world-building, giving us both the scope involved, but also giving us that very lived-in feeling that makes the world seem all too real. As a totally digitally rendered character, Alita seems very real; forget what initial impressions there may have been concerning her larger-than-life sized eyes: she never has any "uncanny valley" moments and you will fully empathize with her as you delve into the plot, discovering things just as innocently as she does.

The crew really did a great job in getting the character design down for this movie. Alita might be a fully digitally rendered character, but a lot of the citizens of Iron City are mechanically augmented individuals, and they don't seem out of place at all. You only have to get a glimpse of the character Zapan (Ed Skrein) in motion to see what's going on. The amount of detail in his design, particularly that of his back, is astounding. This kind of wizardry is reflected throughout the whole world, reflecting different classes of individuals who are augmented to perform different functions.

The fast paced spectacle that is "Motorball" is yet another highlight of the movie. The "street" alternative that Alita first encounters seemed like a more competitive sport; the true version of the game is more gladiatorial with a basic kill-or-be-killed mentality behind it. Truth be told, this will not sway you in any way from enjoying every single moment of its fast paced turbulent energy.

The multilayered characters also serve the story well. Alita (Rosa Salazar), an amnesiac who basically has to find her humanity by doing the one thing she was designed for - fighting - is both innocent, simplistic, but utterly fearless; a true berzerker.  Dr. Ido and Chiren (Jennifer Connelly) share a convoluted past, not fully explored in this installment, but events in their lives cause them to diverge along very different paths. Jennifer Connelly didn't have much material to work with, but she certainly makes Chiren a fascinating character.  At this point in his career, Mahershala Ali has played his fair share of villains (can't forget his recent turn as "The Prowler" in Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse); he plays "Vector" in a style very reminiscent of his take on "Cottonmouth" from Luke Cage. Last, but not least, I have to highlight the villainous Grewishka voiced so menacingly by Jackie Earle Haley; rendered as a monstrous behemoth, he has a loud bark, but unfortunately gets to endure a lot more punishment than he usually deals out (making him more of a running gag).

What we have at play here is a wonderful unique story, told with spectacular visuals that will totally immerse you in the whole experience. The movie is well-paced, and its 2 hour run time seems well and truly earned. With all the uncredited megastar appearances going on in this movie, it definitely will be getting a sequel, and I will definitely be lining up to watch those sequels.

This was a masterclass in movie making. A+

God Bless

Spoiler Free Review - "How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World"

All things must ultimately come to an end. This movie ends the journey that began with a surprisingly wonderful "How to Train Your Dragon" (HTTYD) in 2010, that introduced us to the beloved duo of Hiccup and his trust Night Fury (Toothless), and the myriad denizens of Berk. It'd be pretty safe to say that that movie was a beautiful unique introduction to the world of dragons, and showed us that one weird kid with a knack for the uncanny could be the bridge between two totally different worlds. This was followed by HTTYD II in 2014, which expanded the mythos even further: we were introduced to the concept of Dragon hierarchy, we regained Hiccup's lost mother, but lost the brave Stoic in exchange, and thus Hiccup eventually ended up being crowned as chief. The second installment gave us tons in terms of world-building, traded in a human antagonist dragon-hunter (Drago Bludvist) for the monstrous "Red Death", but its predecessor was undoubtedly the better of the two movies.

HTTYD III delves deeper into Hiccup's chieftaincy: as usual, with his and the Berkians' penchant for embracing dragons, Berk is now filled to the brim with dragons. And since Dragon hunters are now a part of this story, all this has done is paint a big target on their backs; in this way, Grimmel the Grizzly is brought in as an antagonist to plot their end. Toothless is still the alpha, and tries to keep the dragons in check, but things change once a female Light Fury becomes the object of his affection.

In my opinion, the movie got off to quite a slow start. Something quite disappointing for me was how some scenes were rendered in the dead of night. There just wasn't that much contrast, and this made it hard to make out the details in some of the night scenes. There's also something misplaced about the comedy this time around. HTTYD has usually had many avenues from which to pull in some laughs: from Hiccup's deadpan musing about his quirks, the eccentricities of his age mates, Gobber's observations and the interactions with Toothless and other dragons. It just seemed like most attempts at comedy did not land. Granted, this is the end to the trilogy, and some weighty issues are expected (similar to the gravitas that Stoic's death posed in the previous installment), we're still in this for some fun. The weirdest thing they do is try to make Hiccup's mother (Valka) an object of intrigue for Snotlout and Eret. The most irritating thing they do is overplay the twins Tuffnut and Ruffnut's roles this time around. I can understand giving us small doses of irritating characters, but this was just excessive.

The law of diminishing returns seems to have set in rather deeply. However, the movie catches its stride in its 3rd act. Some of the decisions made by Hiccup are a bit suspect, but then again, this is merely a reflection of his eccentricity at work; the same eccentricity that saw him embrace dragons when most people merely saw them as a dangerous inconvenience. For so long he had come to rely on the oddity of loving dragons as his one true defining characteristic, but he's forced to come to terms with the fact that he is more than just the tamer of dragons. Similarly, there's a love story at play here: that of Toothless and the Light Fury. In retrospect, it shares the same odd beginning as Toothless' friendship with Hiccup, with Toothless now taking on the role of the hapless dolt.

Despite the initial slow pacing, the movie provides a great emotionally satisfying climax to the trilogy. Perhaps the movie will grow on me with yet another chance to view it, but I'm glad to have had the chance to be on this 3-movie ride. Please make sure to check the soundtrack (currently available on Youtube) for the delightful tune, "Once there were Dragons". It is the theme for the culmination of the movie, started off in beautiful Latin chanting accompanied by a soothing Harp. Bounding off into booming brass territory, the song encompasses a wide variety of emotion, eventually evolving into an all too familiar HTTYD tune. It brings all things full-circle.

I give this movie a B+, and hope to be as entranced by another movie as I have been by this collective trilogy as a whole.

God Bless