Alita: Battle Angel

Do we need four Avatar sequels? Two is fine. But four? They better be good. We'll see how good Avatar 2 is when it debuts in December, next year.

In the meantime, we have another James Cameron feature to behold. His long in development, long-delayed and long-anticipated adaptation of Yukito Kishiro's manga Battle Angel Alita (aka Gunm). Producer Cameron left the director's chair to Robert Rodriguez for the end result, Alita: Battle Angel. Let's move on before we question the title switch-around.

In the way distant future, the wealthy live above the masses in floating cities. Or, they did. There was a war called The Fall that sent all but one floating city to Earth. That city is Zalem, which floats above the trash-heap Iron City. There, scientist Dyson Ido (Christoph Waltz) finds a trashed cyborg in the junkyard. He rebuilds the cyborg into our heroine, Alita (Rosa Salazar).

Alita can't remember her past at first. But she's curious and is a skilled combatant in the vicious art of Panzer-Kurst. Her first human friend, Hugo (Keean Johnson), introduces her to the suitably violent sport of Rollerball Motorball. Dr. Ido doesn't want her to partake in the brutality. But she does, and she even signs up to be a Hunter-Warrior (a bounty hunter). Mr. Vector (Mahershala Ali), the commissioner of Motorball, wants to take her out. She'll just have to stop him.

Cameron and Laeta Kalogridis's screenplay skims through the manga in 122 minutes. We jump through many plot points in the first half-hour alone. A few characters, namely some other Hunter-Warriors, get lost in the narrative shuffle. The visuals have more impact than Alita and Hugo's doomed friendship. It all builds up to an abrupt ending. You'll know it when you see it. Strangely, much of the basic plot is comprehensible. But it's so hard to distill it in a few easy paragraphs.

The film's visuals are worth the $200 million budget. The production design by Caylah Eddleblute and Steve Joyner visualizes a fascinating future world. Iron City is a crowded, yet visually pleasing crowded metropolis. Much of it was filmed on actual sets. Props like Dr. Ido's rocket hammer are a delightful collection. The robots are an eclectic bunch of perfectly rendered CGI. The CGI for the cyborgs is flawless. Mostly. 

And then, there's Alita. The film visualizes her with convincing motion-capture effects. Her large anime eyes threaten to push her into the uncanny valley. But they'll become easy on the eyes (ha!) after a while. As a character, Alita's personality transcends the script's problems. She pulls no punches against cyborg villains like Vector's top man, Grewishka (Jackie Earle Haley). She's also naive and caring. It's easy for her to get the audience's support.

The film's unfocused narrative is its biggest problem. There are some aspects, like Dr. Ido's tragic backstory, that are captivating, but needed more development. Still, Alita: Battle Angel is a capable action film. It left me curious for a potential sequel. Whether or not it'll get one is a another story. But you still have a unique looking film.

Let's just see about Avatar 2.