Director Robert Rodriguez has made some classic movies over the years, from Desperado to Sin City and now has teamed up with producer James Cameron to make Alita Battle Angel, based on a popular Manga.
When Alita (Rosa Salazar) awakens with no memory of who she is in a future world she does not recognize, she is taken in by Ido (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 tries to shield her from her mysterious history.
In contrast, her street-smart new friend Hugo (Keean Johnson) offers instead to help trigger her memories. But it is only when the deadly and corrupt forces that run the city come after Alita that she discovers a clue to her past – she has unique fighting abilities that those in power will stop at nothing to control.
If she can stay out of their grasp, she could be the key to saving her friends, her family and the world she’s grown to love.
The first thing you notice when watching the movie is the striking visuals, as you would expect when James Cameron is involved and you are quickly drawn into the futuristic world and try and follow Alita as she starts to remember where she really came from and the abilities she has.
The action scenes are very well choreographed with groundbreaking effects and are mostly easy to follow, something that is lacking in a lot of these CGI-heavy fantasy films.
People familiar with the Manga will probably be able to follow it a bit easier, i have not heard of it so found the narrative loses focus at times and the ending is so obviously focused on having a sequel that it is a bit jarring.
See this on the biggest screen you can and with a decent sound system, you will have a reference quality disc, even if the story does not quite involve you enough emotionally.
The Blu-ray released by 20th Century Fox is fabulous quality in many ways. the 1080P image is solid, bold and really stands out. The audio is DTS MA 7.1 and has a really amazing sound design.
There are over 2 hours of extra features including Alita’s World, From Manga to Screen, Evolution of Alita and more.
An enjoyable sci-fi action adventure and well worth two hours of your time.
Also available on 4K UHD
FILM : 7.5 PICTURE:10 AUDIO: 10 EXTRAS: 8
