"I think you are someone very special."
Trailer Review 057 & Movie Preview 038
Alita: Battle Angel
20th Century Fox
[20th of July, 2018]
Trailer Effectiveness = 75% for effectively establishing the premise and the divisive lifelike anime-inspired main protagonist.
Chance of Success = 70% with the science fiction attraction and big names behind it although the high mountain viewers need to overcome with the CG characters.
a case for the long-gestating science fiction epic project:
+ Highlights +
After going through the comic book phase (which is still going strong), it is wonderful to see filmmakers started to view Japanese market with mangas and animes as viable source of adaptable properties although a working formula in the veins of Iron Man is still out of grasp, trying to find the balance between being faithful to the original materials and appropriating them to wider and broader audiences. The possible loss of much more discussion of philosophical discussion of artificial intelligence for example is the price to pay to have a successful full feature.
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Rosa Salazar as the lead is a promising casting with her previous works in Maze Runner and Insurgent proving her action chops more than her acting ability, although their approach to bring Alita to life would make that casting not matter in the end.
? Main contention ?
A strong female protagonist leading the story, in line with then director James Cameron's past works in Alien and Terminator, now in another capable hands of Robert Rodriguez with his fair shares as well in Desperado, Planet Terror and Sin City.
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Although not as high profile as Ghost in the Shell, it is another reinterpretation of an established Japanese property with the whitewashing controversy a lot less prominent with the original premise revolves around a post-apocalyptic sci-fi world with nondescript characters and races that have been dominated by robots ... now with diverse cast populating the movie especially with the Hispanic Canadian American lead, although that could be argued below...
- Lowlights -
It's been too long in the development that the fear of the Hollywood take would start to lose the essence of the highly regarded original manga series.
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The track record of the former certainly superior compared to the latter hence giving this adaptation much more positive buzz but now with his full undivided attention is on the billions dollar Avatar franchise, Rodriguez's vast works albeit with different degree of success couldn't garner the same enthusiasm but his experience working in different type of genres for all corners of the demography should provide him the needed expertise for this delicate project which troubled the movie fans to some extent although the casting of Rosa Salazar as the main lead was met with praise and more optimism for this particular project considering her roles in Maze Runner the Scorch Trials and Insurgent, being able to stand out in rather mediocre movies while demonstrating her action chops which is appropriate.
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a case for the fully faithful adaptation of the original's premise and style:
+ Highlights +
Lifelike and photo-realistic special effects (or as lifelike humanoid robotics could be) bringing Alita to life in her doll and robotic glory. Bare in mind that her initial look in the mangas has always been commented as looking like a doll or not as human by the other human characters, setting a precedent that she even look different to those around her from the animes right to the live-action movie.
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A simple storyline to relate as we would follow her journey to learn who she is before and now, a girl reborn learning to be human while trying to find her place in the dangerous world.
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Oh, the tease of the action is effective as they look fast and hard-hitting, giving us a preview of how well they represent the action sequences that is the most memorable aspects of the original.
? Main contention ?
The curious approach to have fully computer generated characters instead of real life actors with prosthetic, practical effects or even partially CG-ed just like Cyborg in Justice League could be hugely attributed to the former director and now executive producer, James Cameron's inclination to have fully CG-ed characters in his previous work in Avatar (which he is going all in with the planned sequels). The end result here could be debated in its effectiveness as the CGI is definitely top of the art in today's big budgeted movies climate (compared her look with Thanos from Infinity Wars objectively) in and of itself but when you started to pair them together with real life actors in the same scene, it is not the same feelings when we see Caesar and the apes in the recent Apes reboots for example as we are amazed by the technology to bring lifelike animals to life. The cosmetic choice of how Alita look in this adaptation tries to be both as realistic and look as closely to the drawn counterpart as they can be, resulted in this uncanny valley-inducing effect which could be a major obstacle for the viewers to overcome before they could go into the cinema and invest themselves in the characters and relate to them. With that being said, the initial outburst of negativity is not as severe as one would predict (with anime-to-movie predicament telegraphed by this year's Ghost in the Shell) in this situation since the high quality animations couldn't be ignored even by the biggest of critics. Even the cheap jabs about the quality of the CGI would not hold water as the special effects department would continue to do post-production works on the final product right until the month it is released. Since that date is still months away, the hefty budget would be used here until the last drop or rather penny.
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There are a number or reincarnation of the protagonist throughout the run of the manga jumping years between them with rebirth of Alita in the volatile and ever changing world. This one is particular is the perfect entry point for those not in the know as the focus of this arc is on the rebirth of the main protagonist and her journey to find her place in the world while her past comes back to haunt her.
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He said "down here", a possible tease of where they could go next i.e. the city in the clouds which is my favourite arc in the series, although it all depends on if this is successful or not ...
- Lowlights -
The uncanny valley has been the major focus of the conversation regarding the property that the any notion of whitewashing isn't even being brought up, so that's an upside of it ... although they won't have a lot to brought up in the first place, it's just CG human versus real human now.
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Rosa Salazar is now in danger of facing the same fate that befell Andy Serkis as he is mostly known for his works behind the digital motion capture suits for Gollum and Ceasar while being unfairly overlooked time and time again by the acting body and organization ... it can be viewed as a waste to not use her in real life as people would recognized her acting ability more than her acting under digital makeups which is always under heavy contention: if the digital artists only apply the effects on the actor's performance and do extra touch-ups to make them as believable as possible or is it the other way around with the actors providing a basic template while the artists do all the heavy lifting behind the camera.
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- Synopsis -
Visionary filmmakers James Cameron (AVATAR) and Robert Rodriguez (SIN CITY) create a groundbreaking new heroine in ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL, an action-packed story of hope, love and empowerment. Set several centuries in the future, the abandoned Alita (Rosa Salazar) is found in the scrapyard of Iron City by Ido (Christoph Waltz), a compassionate cyber-doctor who takes the unconscious cyborg Alita to his clinic. When Alita awakens she has no memory of who she is, nor does she have any recognition of the world she finds herself in. Everything is new to Alita, every experience a first. As she learns to navigate her new life and the treacherous streets of Iron City, Ido tries to shield Alita from her mysterious past while her street-smart new friend, Hugo (Keean Johnson), offers instead to help trigger her memories. A growing affection develops between the two until deadly forces come after Alita and threaten her newfound relationships. It is then that Alita discovers she has extraordinary fighting abilities that could be used to save the friends and family she’s grown to love. Determined to uncover the truth behind her origin, Alita sets out on a journey that will lead her to take on the injustices of this dark, corrupt world, and discover that one young woman can change the world in which she lives.
Rosa Salazar, Eiza González, Jennifer Connelly, Michelle Rodriguez, Christoph Waltz, Jackie Earle Haley, Mahershala Ali, Ed Skrein, and Casper Van Dien ...
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