I have mixed emotions about Alita: Battle Angel. After watching all the trailers that came out, I was honestly so pumped to go see it. However, it didn’t live up to my expectations. Except for the CGI and fight scenes. The CGI was seriously so impressive the action scenes forced me to keep my eyes from blinking. Everything else, however, was so so.
Not only was the plot confusing as f*ck but, at one point, it got really cheesy. Sorry, but I’m not here for the subpar one-liners. The main thing that triggered me though were the men in the film. First, is doctor Ido. Okay, I get it, you found scraps of her body in a junkyard but that doesn’t give you the right to control her every move. You don’t know who she is, she doesn’t even know who she is so it’s weird that he was constantly restricting her from doing pretty much anything. What made this whole situation with doctor Ido even more messed up is that the body he put Alita in was supposed to be for his dead daughter. And Alita was actually the name of his daughter too. This explains why he was acting like an overprotective “father” but please don’t spill your daughter issues onto this girl you just met. This went on to when Alita found a mysterious bionic body she felt a connection to. She asked doctor Ido to put her in it but he refused. I’m sorry, but how is that his decision to make? It’s her body and she should be able to do with it what she wants. Later on, Alita proved her point and he eventually changed her body. But only after her old one got ripped to shreds.
Next up is Hugo, who ended up being her love interest. I wasn’t a fan of Hugo, mainly because he was lying to her the entire time. He even had the audacity to call her for help when he was being chased by a bounty hunter. Boy, maybe you deserved it.
The other thing that annoyed me was how blinded Alita was by Hugo. She followed him like a sad puppy and wanted to sacrifice everything for him. She even offered her super powerful heart. She literally pulled her heart out of her chest and told him to sell it so they can start a new life together in the sky city. And, even after he lied to her and she saved his life, she went to rescue him another time. As he was climbing the pipes to the city in the sky, Alita was trying to convince him to go back, that it was a trap—which it was. But he just kept on climbing and eventually died. I have never been so happy about a movie death in my life.
By the end of the movie, I was trying to recall how inciting the trailer was. They made Alita look so strong and badass. Sure, she was physically strong but they made her so susceptible to the silly things the men in her life said and did. I was looking forward to a strong female lead but she only truly found her voice in the end. And, by that time, I was only 25 percent invested in the film, which ended in the biggest cliffhanger. A part of me wants to know what will happen in the sequel but I’m also debating if it will be worth my time and money. Movies tickets have gone way up in price after all. We’ll just have to see and wait if I’m up for it.
Art by Marian Hukom
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