For the last sixty years, Hollywood has been fascinated with the apocalyptic sci-fi film genre. I can remember as far back as 1964's "Fahrenheit 451" where our society had gotten to the point where we can no longer legally own books and they were burned at the degree of 451 Fahrenheit. The film then followed the ramifications and consequences of a society falling apart. We've seen a plethora of other apocalyptic films since and now we have offered us "Alita: Battle Angel".
This is an epic adventure of hope and empowerment. When Alita (Rosa Salazar) awakens with no memory of who she is in an apocalyptic future 300 years ahead--one in which she does not recognize, she is taken in by Dr. Ito (Christoph Waltz), a compassionate doctor who realizes that somewhere in this abandoned cyborg shell is the heart and soul of a young woman with an extraordinary past. As Alita learns to navigate her new life and the treacherous streets of Iron City, Ido attempts to shield her from her mysterious history while her street-smart friend, Hugo (Keean Johnson) teaches her the ways of survival all the while neither Hugo or Alita not realizing her true potential as a lethal, dangerous machine.
Others to round out the cast are Jennifer Connelly as Chiren, Mahershala Ali as Vector, Ed Skrein as Zapan, Jackie Earle Haley as Grewishka, Jorge Lendeborg Jr. as Tanji, Lana Condor as Koyomi, Idara Victor as Nurse Gerhad, Jeff Fahey as McTeague, Eliza Gonzales as Nyssiana, Derek Mears as Romo and Leonard Wu as Kinuba.
This was energetically directed by veteran Robert Rodriguez ("Desperado" '95, "From Dusk Till Dawn" '96, "The Faculty" '98, "Spy Kids" '01, "Once Upon a Time in Mexico" '03, "Sin City" '05, "Planet Terror" '07, "Shorts" '09, "Machete" '10, "Sin City: A Dame to Kill For" '14) plus others, TV, shorts and documentaries. I say energetically because this filmmaker continues to serve his audiences revved up films that are so over-the-top that they almost seem animated even though they are, obviously, live-action. He is incredibly talented in knowing how to bring the characters to life from his actors. If this is your brand of director, his "Red 11" is in post-production for a 2019 release. It was written well by James Cameron, Laeta Kologridis and Rodriguez based on the graphic novel series "Gunnm" by Yukato Kishiro. These writers have anywhere from a fair amount of feature film experience to a plethora, especially Cameron ("The Terminator", "Titanic" "Avatar") and Rodriguez ("From Dusk Till Dawn", Once Upon a Time in Mexico", "Sin City"). Kalogridis has a fair amount of experience and was definitely a contributing writer, but it was clearly Cameron and Rodriguez that had the lion's share of the style and creativity here. Although these writers are talented, there are definitely a few places of slowness and continuity issues, but certainly not enough to distract--hey, it kept me riveted. With the stylized direction also comes the same stylized cinematography by Bill Pope, asc ("The Matrix" '99, "Spider-Man 2" '04, "Men in Black 3", '12, "The Jungle Book" '16). His style was crisp, tight and matched the intensity of this story. And since this film is presented also in the IMAX format, his photography would actually enhance the feel of that format even more. The visual effects predominantly created by Weta Digital, Double Negative and Framestore were seamless and, again, matched the feel of Rodriguez's powerful direction.
Certainly if you are a Rodriguez fan, this will be a film that you'd expect considering his distinct style, but even if you're not, there's something in this for everyone: action, adrenaline, explosions, nifty visual effects and talented direction. This is almost like seeing a great summer flick except it's a bit early.
Out of 4 Stars: 3 Rated: PG-13 122mins.
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