Movie Poster

I do not stand by in the presence of evil.

Previous Robert Rodriguez reviews:

• Four Rooms
• The Mandalorian - Season 2

# Review

This movie is based on Yukito Kishiro's 1990s manga Battle Angel Alita; I was initially skeptical of Hollywood adaptations of manga (or real-life adaptations of manga in general), but I decided to watch this movie because Rodriguez is one of my favourite directors, and the movie starred some of my favourite actors and actresses, such as Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, and Mahershala Ali.

The story follows Alita (Rosa Salazar with CGI), a cyborg discarded in the scrapyards of Iron City, which is a city built underneath another city, Zalem, which a wealthy city in the sky. Alita is saved by Dr. Ido and meets other residents of Iron City, including Hugo, a young man who dreams of moving to Zalem.

I haven't read the manga or watched the anime before watching this, so I can't account for faithful the movie is compared to the original works, but this movie standalone is very good. The art style is very bold, and takes risks; some decisions, such as making Alita a CGI character instead of live action, I felt was questionable, but overall the art style enhances the atmosphere and preserves the manga/anime heritage. Some of the dialogue is a bit mechanical and corny, but in this film, it further preserves the manga/anime heritage.

# Conclusion

Surprisingly good Hollywood adaptation of a manga/anime.

# Overall rating: 8.1

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