DIRECTOR:
Robert Rodriguez
LEAD
CAST: Rosa Salazar, Cristoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, Mahershala Ali, Ed
Skrein, Jackie Earle Haley & Keean Johnson
SCREENWRITER:
James Cameron & Laeta Kalogridis
PRODUCER:
James Cameron & Jon Landau
EDITOR:
Stephen E. Rivkin
MUSICAL
DIRECTOR: Tom Holkenborg
GENRE:
Science fiction/Fantasy
CINEMATOGRAPHER:
Bill Pope
DISTRIBUTOR:
20th Century Fox
LOCATION:
USA
RUNNING
TIME: 122 mins.
Technical assessment: 4
Moral assessment: 3.5
CINEMA rating: V 13
MTRCB rating: PG
After
the cataclysmic war known as “The Fall”, Earth has become a monumental trash
heap where everyone scavenges to survive, kept alive by the thought of one day
finding relief in Zalem, a city of the elite high up in the sky. One day as the compassionate cyborg scientist
Dr. Dyson Ido (Cristoph Waltz) scavenges for treasure among the trash, he finds
the bust of a female cyborg with a human brain, half dead. In his his clinic he succeeds in giving it a
robotic body. The cyborg awakens but can
recall nothing about her past or identity; Dr. Ido then names her Alita (Rosa
Salazar), after his deceased daughter.
Alita becomes comfortable with her new body and as her unique skillset
surfaces, the curious cyborg discovers that Dr. Ido is a warrior-hunter. As the story unfolds, layer upon layer of
secrets are peeled off, revealing the surprising depth of each character.
Alita: Battle Angel is the
big-screen adaptation of Yukito Kishiro’s manga, “Battle Angel Alita”. With its great attention to detail and
character development, the film has created a world where viewers may easily
get carried away, especially if it is watched on a giant screen. While the bleak setting, Iron City, is a
veritable junkyard, the movie is not depressing; while the lead female is a
robot, she is not cold. The visuals are
breathtaking; the action, wow! Director
Rodriguez’s eye for action is complemented by cleverly placed close-ups that
give the story its heart. Waltz as a
kindhearted man proves his acting mettle once more in a role that’s the
opposite of his usually villainous, ruthless film persona. Salazar, on the other hand, inspires
sympathy—is it due to her role, or her soulful eyes?
An
aspect worth pondering in Alita: Battle
Angel is the wide range of human emotions depicted. The story is set centuries into the
future—year 2563—and yet, the characters’ responses to emotional stimuli remain
the same as ours today. Note the relationship
between Alita and Dr. Ido, Chiren’s maternal instinct causing her change of
heart, Alita’s self-sacrificing love for Hugo, etc. Whether it is anger, love, ambition, or
hatred fueling their actions, the characters—human or cyborg—are so like us,
responding the way we do now, or even as our counterparts did centuries ago as
history proves. The desire for power or
dominance is still there, so is the human longing for love. Also, man still itches for greener pastures,
as the gap between society’s rich and poor, the elites and the scavengers,
remains unbridgeable. If only the
externals are changed 500 years from now, is the movie saying that the human
brain is the same yesterday, today and forever?
What about human existence, purpose, or destiny—will it be forever a
mystery?—TRT
