angel's blog

Hey guys! We are back with another blog. Today, we will talk about a film we watched and will hopefully help you know more as you read our review. (Disclaimer: The following might include spoilers)

Imagine a life on Earth if more advancements on our technologies are made and people are half-human and half-cyborg. That is how it is in this dystopian, cyberpunk film Alita: Battle Angel.

In the 2019 Sci-fi/Action movie titled, Alita: Battle Angel, the story takes place 300 years after a war that happened on Earth called “the Fall”. It is based on the Manga series Battle Angel Alita by Yukito Kishiro. In this futuristic society, cyborg technology is a way of life. There are two cities in the film called Zalem and Iron City — Zalem being the higher counterpart of Iron City. The antagonist of the drama is Nova that lives in Zalem. Aside from him, the only other characters we know that once lived in Zalem are Dr. Ido and his wife Chiren but then they were sent to exile because Alita, their daughter, was genetically flawed. But soon after they were sent to Iron City, their daughter died from an attack leading to both of them separating. After more than 5 years from his daughter’s death, Dr. Dyson Ido found a deactivated cyborg in a scrapyard, and named her after her daughter Alita. He brought of what was left of the cyborg’s body back to his clinic and together with his nurse, Gerhad, they rebuild it back together giving it the body that was originally for his daughter. Eventually, Alita came back to life but cannot remember anything of her past. As she learns to navigate her new life, she meets Hugo who she eventually develops romantic relationship with. Alita finds interest in motorball, a sport that’s played and whoever wins can go up to Zalem. It was always Hugo’s dream to go to Zalem so both of them worked together to achieve his dream and for her to remember her real identity. Will Alita ever discover the secret of her mysterious past? Let’s watch and see.

Dr. Dyson Ido is a compassionate doctor. It is shown in the movie consistently. He sees his daughter in Alita and maybe that’s the reason why he’s protective of her. Alita’s character is bold and fearless. Her unique fighting style captivates the audience. Later on in the movie, she meets Hugo, an ambitious person who dreams to go to Zalem. We don’t see much from the main antagonist, Nova, until later on in the movie. It was not revealed in the end what happened to him.

You might be wondering what the movie is trying to show. It shows loyalty, selflessness, inner strength, courage and persistence. Alita’s character (played by Rosa Salazar) empowers young women, like us, because she is brave and is not afraid to discover herself and her abilities. She’s ready to fight enemies but is also caring and affectionate to those she love at the same time. The two cities in this movie, namely Zalem and Iron City, shows the gap between the rich and the poor. It depicts how the rich benefit from the poor and the poor get poorer. As well as how they take entertainment from them, example is their sports competition Motorball. What the film is trying to say is to not stand by while people are being hurt – to speak up in the face of injustice. It’s a great message but not communicated very well throughout the movie.

Alita: Battle Angel is a spectacular film directed by Robert Rodriguez (from the films Dusk Till Dawn, Sin City, Planet Terror) and produced by James Cameron (from the films Aliens, Titanic, Avatar) If you’re into sci-fi, cyberpunk, and action movies then you should definitely give this movie a try. The animation is hyper realistic and detailed.

The plot is not hard to understand on first watch unlike other sci-fi/cyberpunk films where you need to watch it a couple of times to fully understand the concept. The simplicity of the character arcs and dialogue does not make the film any less good. As for the cinematography, it is very fascinating given that this movie is high-budgeted. However, there’s a need to point out that no movie is perfect and this film is no exception. There are so many side characters that were not given enough time to unleash their full potential. Let’s take for example, Vector . He could have been such a great villain antagonist yet he got little to no screen time. Perhaps it was because the storyline is more focused on Alita’s perspective. In addition, there were so many characters that didn’t even contribute that much to the whole development of the story.

But out of all the characters, Hugo’s character development is the most evident. The way he would give up his dream for Alita is admirable. The script is kind of weak and there were many conflicts in the story that were not even resolved later on. The ending is hanging and left us wanting more. It’s thrown to the audience so they can make their own ending according to their choice. Or simply, to tease us with a sequel. It’s worth watching. We recommend you watch this film and let us know in the comments what you think.

There’s so much to learn in the movie but above all the experience and enjoyment of wide exploration of imagination count the most.