Not long ago, we gave you a feedback on the future big productions of Fox of which we discovered several extracts. We were able to learn more about The Predator, The Hate U Give, Bad Time at the El Royale and Bohemian Rhapsody. But there remains one last work from which we learned a lot and which fully deserved an article of its own. This work is Alita, Battle Angel.
What is Alita, Battle Angel ?!
Alita, Battle Angel is a film produced by 20th Century Fox, inspired by the famous manga Gunnm. The latter tells a dystopian story, in which the Earth was largely ravaged by its collision with a meteorite. Despite this, humanity continued to organize itself, especially via a city suspended in the sky. From this city and its waste was born a slum, in which the majority of the story takes place.
This is not a surprise: when a Japanese work is adapted by a major American studio, it must undergo changes in order to adapt to the requirements of that studio. However, it seems that the overall context of the work has been respected by this Western adaptation. Of course, the names have been changed and put in the American sauce (Dr. Daisuke Ido becomes for example Dr. Dyson), but the overall spirit of the manga still seems to be there. It must be said that it is not just any team that is in charge of this ambitious project. We find the final boss of the box office in production, namely James Cameron, father of the giants Avatar and Titanic. Behind the camera, we will be treated to the efficient Robert Rodriguez, to whom we owe (among others) Sin City. Suffice to say that level action and entertainment, Alita, Battle Angel promises very very heavy!
An overview of the action scenes:
If you thought the action scenes in the trailer were cool, wait until you see them in their entirety! Halfway between Ready Player One and Mad Max – Fury Road, the fights are as spectacular as they are well choreographed. Nothing has been left to chance and the film promises to be a real visual slap. We recognize the polished aesthetic of which Robert Rodriguez is capable, as well as his ability to manage action scenes. And when we see the creativity we are dealing with only in these few extracts, we can't wait to discover the entire film.
Already endearing characters:
What makes the strength of good blockbusters (and good movies in general) is their way of attaching us to their heroes. Many action movies tend not to develop their characters in favor of spectacular scenes (the Marvel Cinematic Universe knows something about it…). Fortunately, it seems that Alita, Battle Angel escapes this curse by offering us a treatment of characters of the most correct. While we agree: we will not be spared by (very) many clichés. But these seem to be used well enough not to be disturbing. We remain in an entertainment film and there is little chance that the psychological development will be ultra advanced. However, we are entitled to a Christoph Waltz who seems perfect as a father figure, as well as a synthetic Alita whose candor makes her immediately endearing. The antagonists and the "love interest" did not really have time to shine during these extracts, so we will only be able to judge their development at the end of the year. Anyway, it is a treatment as simple as effective that the film seems to offer us in terms of its characters.
Alita, Battle Angel promises to be one of the most ambitious blockbusters of recent years, even having the potential to equal the two most recent references of the genre, namely Mad Max – Fury Road and Ready Player One. Let's hope that he manages to rise to their height and that he will offer us a show worthy of the name!
