'Alita: Battle Angel' review - This stunning adventure is worth every penny

Movie: Alita: Battle Angel

Cast: Rosa Salazar, Christoph Waltz, Keean Johnson, Mahershala Ali, Jennifer Connelly, Ed Skrein, and Michelle Rodriguez

Director: Robert Rodriguez

Genre: Action

Duration: 2 hrs 2 min

Story: 

Dr Dyson Ido (Christoph Waltz) discovers a disassembled core of a female cyborg in a scrapyard of Iron City. He builds her back with the body he had created for his daughter and gives her the name Alita (Rosa Salazar). After waking up from distressed slumber, Alita finds it difficult to recall her past so she tries to understand the ways of the world after The Fall. Dreaming of climbing her way up to the last floating city of Zalem, Alita meets Hugo (Keean Johnson) who teaches her the brutal sport of Motorball. Scrimmage in the tight alleys of Iron City triggers memories and Alita realises she was a lethal weapon in her previous life who perfected the lost martial art of Panzer Kunst. The desire to know more leads Alita into the world of rigged Motorball game run by Vector (Mahershala Ali) and Chiren (Jennifer Connelly). But there's more to it than meets the eye. Alita is being hunted by mad genius Deisty Nova who will stop at nothing to get his hands on the ancient technology this petite but dangerous cyborg is made of. Alita: Battle Angel is the origin story of the warrior who shall save the world come next instalment of the franchise.

Review:

Writer-Producer James Cameron spent more than a decade to bring Yukito Kishiro's manga creation Alita to the big screen.  Having watched the movie, the gamble seems to have worked out in his favour. Roberto Rodriguez worked on Cameron's script with Laeta Kalogridis and delivered a moderately compelling story. The director worked with Peter Jackson's motion capture crew for this heavily visualised spectacle and that effort has made these stunning visuals the USP of the movie. The action choreography, mixed with motion capture and CGI, is mesmerising and will feed your adrenaline rush. The same level of finesse is seen in the panorama shots of the floating city, shown with the backdrop of gritty life on the ground in Iron City. The heights and depth of the broken skyscrapers will make you dizzy in your theatre seats.

Rosa Salazar had to do all the heavy lifting when it came to motion capture since it's the origin story of Alita. Salazar, a pro in sci-fi world thanks to the Maze Runner franchise, does her job perfectly. Christoph Waltz has the second meatiest role in the movie and the two-time Oscar winner proves his mettle by seamlessly moving from drama to comedy. Another Academy Award winner, Mahershala Ali, has a significantly smaller role, but the switch in his character is hard to miss.

The only down point of this rather entertaining movie is its pace. Rodriguez and Kalogridis had to pack a lot into just two hours to get to the next level of the franchise. They strip down the original material to the most essential parts but they also made the mistake of lingering far too long during emotional scenes. Therefore, between action scenes, the movie loses pace and the audience (yours truly) is left wondering about the rights of cyborgs if they become sentient. 

It remains to be seen how fans of original manga will receive this movie, but it is safe to say that Alita: Battle Angel is an honest attempt.

Verdict:

Alita: Battle Angel is worth your penny if you are looking for a good, action-packed, entertaining spectacle

Critic's rating: 3.5/5