BY IKENNA OBIOHA
For decades, the script that adapts Yukito Kishiro’s Japanese manga series, Gunnm into Alita: Battle Angel gathered dust in the office of James Cameron, who at the time was more invested in bringing to life Avatar. By 2015, Robert Rodriguez stepped in as director while Cameron maintains producer status. Principal photography for the project commenced in October 2016.
Set in year 2563, the story of Alita (Rosa Salazar) starts with a cyborg scientist Dr. Dyson Ido (Christoph Waltz) discovering a disembodied head of a 300 year old cyborg girl with a complete functional human brain. Lacking a heart, Ido merges the head to a mechanically designed body he developed for his now deceased daughter. Grieving from the loss of his daughter, he names the coupled cyborg Alita after his daughter.
Having no recollection of her past, Alita tries to fit into the dystopian society of Iron city, a setting under the helm of Nova (Edward Norton), Alita’s nemesis from her past who manipulates his subjects through mind control mechanisms from his suspended abode of sky city of Zalem. In that period, she meets Hugo who becomes her good friend.
Humanlike in all forms, Alita is capable of showing emotions; she is even capable of shedding tears when sad. This added feature greatly deviates from the usual cyborg representation in which they are mostly portrayed as mechanical components incapable of willful actions, except for those programmed into them. With the path taken in storytelling, the director adds a certain ‘je ne sais quoi’ to it, and ultimately buys the emotions of its audience as it blurs the line that separates human from cyborgs. Like Hugo said to Alita, “I’ve never met anyone more human than you.”
From the get go, the plot grabs attention with the discovery and recovery of Alita. With time, it unveils the true nature of Alita, reveals a back-story involving Nova who operates from the background, the dilemma Hugo faces, and the burning desire of Ido to have a normal family. This pattern of storytelling aided the viewer through the two-hour long flick without giving room for them to take a break in the restroom, as they wouldn’t want to miss the sequence.
A mix of Transformers’ mechanical moving parts, Ghost in the Shell‘s nanotechnology concept fuelled with the speed factor of Matrix, all meshed with an unconventional love tale between a boy and a cyborg renders a great package to enthral action movie lovers who necessarily aren’t bothered with plot as long as they get the ‘action’ worth of their money. However, Alita follows a familiar plot which necessarily isn’t passé per se. It, at various points thrives on pop culture ideals that celebrate teenage romance.
Rebellious, determined, and confused, the protagonist fights for love, her life and justice for her ruined past that met its end in the catastrophic war dubbed ‘The Fall’, Alita forges on with the fierce spirit to destroy Nova for good but in the process of doing so, loses something far more valuable. This may come as a spoiler; however, the twist applied to deny her of a ‘happy ending’ will culminate in a sequel, especially owing to the fact that she is yet to go anywhere near Nova who remotely operates from Zalem.
While the script is a so-so effort at best, the special effects generated through the use of Computer Generated Imagery (CGI) will leave one gaping in awe of its intricate detailing that reveals sensually pleasing macro shots; it almost feels like a heavy graphic video game, but way cooler.
Currently, it sits quite pretty after two weeks of its release with a worldwide gross revenue of $286.6 million against its $170 million budget.
Watch trailer for Alita
https://youtu.be/cislZ9S0ocA
