Alita: Battle Angel (2019)

[Henry88]

[Dai]

Battle Angel Alita is one of my favourite manga, so I had been looking forward to this ever since James Cameron said he was going to direct it back in the late 90s (shortly before he decided to spend a decade tinkering with submarines). It's just a shame that this project only escaped from development hell when Cameron finally gave up on directing it, and handed it over to a director I can't stand, purveyor of B-movie trash, Robert Rodriguez. I can't help but fear that he will focus on the visual excesses and brutality of the setting, and lose the heartfelt and contemplative core of the story in the process.

One interesting thing to note from that synopsis is that the section of the series that's up for adaptation appears to have changed. Cameron originally planned to heavily feature the motorball arc from volume 3, but this synopsis sounds like the hunter-warrior and Yugo arcs from volumes 1 and 2, which were previously adapted into a pair of OAVs in the 90s.

[Dai]

Okay, not sure how I feel about this. On one hand, this looks tonally a lot classier than I expected of Rodriguez, and seems to be focusing on the character relationships instead of just the action. There's also a pretty strong cyberpunk aesthetic on display, though some locations look far too tidy for the Scrapyard. On the other hand, sticking so close to Alita's manga design is going to make it less accessible for general audiences. I'm well aware of the reasons for her looking like this, and I still find it jarring in a live-action movie.

On another point, Jennifer Connelly is playing Chiren, indicating that this is adapting the OAVs instead of the manga, since her role replaced Desty Nova's. That makes sense if they want this to hold up as a stand-alone movie, since Desty Nova's presence would inevitably raise more questions than one movie could answer.

The main problem is that I had no emotional reaction to the trailer, good or bad. That's troubling, considering that Alita is one of my favourite manga, but I'm willing to put it down to this being more of a teaser. With a CG main character, there probably aren't many finished shots this long before release.

[Gargantuan Gargantua]

[lhb412]

Man, I don't know.

I feel there should be an appropriate Hannibal Buress gif for this sentiment. Maybe one where he actual says "man, I don't know," but I'm having difficulty finding one. Maybe this will do:



Anyway, I looked at one of the new hardcovers for the original manga the other day and it looks nifty. It really benifits from the larger format showing off the detail in the artwork.

[jellydonut25]

Other than some iffy CGI this looks interesting.

[Dr Kain]

What the "OH GODZILLA! WHAT TERRIBLE LANGUAGE!" is wrong with her face? I think the title of this movie should be Freak the Mighty.

Just what we need, another "OH GODZILLA! WHAT TERRIBLE LANGUAGE!" anime to live action adaptation. Just stop it already guys, enough is enough. When you can't even get something as simple as Ghost in the Shell right, you have no hope. And no, Japan doesn't know how to do live action versions either.

[Rody]

^ I don't know if I'd call Ghost in the Shell "simple", although I think I get what you mean.

I'm sorry to say I'm not familiar with the manga, but I am intrigued by this trailer. The CG eyes are weird, for sure, but hopefully it's an aesthetic choice that gets put to good use. Frankly, it's also just kind of funny to actually see anime eyes in live action.

[lhb412]

Hey, those of you interested in reading the manga: the first volume (ebook) of Alita is currently free to read if you have Amazon Prime.

[Benjamin Haines]

Fox recently moved Alita: Battle Angel out of the summer season to December 21 where it will open alongside WB's Aquaman, Paramount's Bumblebee, and Sony's Holmes & Watson. Every studio comes out swinging when Disney isn't releasing a new Star Wars movie for Christmas. Hopefully this won't actually be a Disney release by that time.

[mr.negativity]

[jellydonut25]

I think this looks fun.

[Dai]

This is looking like a promising adaptation. I was concerned about some aspects of the teaser, like the way they repurposed the context of the, "I'll give you my heart" line, but it looks like this movie will be covering a decent chunk of Alita's character development.



When the movie was delayed, I suspected they might re-design Alita, given the overwhelmingly vocal reaction people had to how distracting Alita's huge anime eyes are. Looking at the following shot side-by-side, it's clear that they have re-done Alita's look at bit (and changed the colour timing of shots), but they've gone the opposite direction from what I expected. I thought they would make her more realistic, but instead they've rendered her in a softer, even more anime-esque style, probably with the intent of pushing her out the opposite side of the uncanny valley. It's not easy to tell the differences side-by-side, but I've tried overlaying these images and flicking back and forth, and that's definitely a new render. The hair is different, the irises of her eyes are larger and less glassy, and her skin texture is different.



Somehow it works. By making her more cartoony, she stands out less.

Everything I'm seeing in the new trailer looks promising, and suggests that Rodriguez and Cameron have a good handle on the important aspects of the characters.

[Benjamin Haines]

[Gargantuan Gargantua]

I think it technically looks good. Maybe thats because I am expecting a full CGI character. I don't go to the theater much but I will go to see this. Sold.

[sentaison]

Final trailer

https://youtu.be/mEH_mU2Fh9E

This is looking so very good! I'm looking forward to seeing this one in the theater.

[jellydonut25]

I'm actually personally upset this was moved out of December because I usually go see a movie around Christmas and nothing that's left in December looks interesting.

[Gargantuan Gargantua]

C'mon they had to move it a couple months in hopes that they would get an extra $10 million on their box office bomb in the making.

I'll be in theaters to see this but I highly doubt this is going to make 2.5 times it's $200 million production budget. I'd like to be wrong, I just don't think I will be.

[lhb412]

I'm getting excited about this one. Each trailer makes the movie look better to my eyes.

[Henry88]

‘Alita: Battle Angel’ Preview: How Weta Escaped from the Uncanny Valley
https://www.indiewire.com/2018/11/alita ... 202019882/

[Benjamin Haines]

[lhb412]

I know the popular perception is that this movie will be a flop, and taking that in mind my biggest hope is that this film is an enjoyable, self-contained adventure that can be appreciated on its own without a bunch of table setting for further installments that probably won't come. Nothing wrong with being a one-and-done movie!

[klen7]

they spent how much on this?

[O.Supreme]

[mr.negativity]

‘Alita: Battle Angel’ Early Buzz: People Love Robert Rodriguez’s Weird-Looking Sci-Fi Epic