Simon Dillon reviews the grab bag of cinematic dystopia.

Alita: Battle Angel

A grab bag of cinematic dystopia populates Robert Rodriguez's manga inspired Alita: Battle Angel. A pinch of Blade Runner here, a dash of Robocop there, soaked in a Mad Max marinade, served with an al dente Rollerball and a sprinkle of The Fifth Element. But although the film is derivative and narratively wobbly, it is far from a disaster. In fact, it is a lot better than I expected, with plenty of spirited action and stunning visual effects.

The plot is set some five hundred years in the future, three hundred years after a huge war which destroyed all but one of the various floating sky city utopias, resulting in one remaining sky city for the ultra-privileged, whilst everyone else mucks together in a city on the ground. In this grim future cityscape we meet Dr Dyson Ido (Christoph Waltz), a cybernetics doctor who finds the torso of a cybernetic teenage girl unconscious on a junk yard. Repairing her and giving her a new body, he forms a bond with this girl, naming her Alita after his late daughter. Suffering amnesia, Alita (Rosa Salazar) is filled with wonder at this new world she has entered, but flashes of memory hint that she was once something far deadlier.

Originally conceived as a James Cameron project, Cameron eventually produced rather than directed, and also worked on the rather uneven screenplay. On the plus side, the motion capture work is very good, deliberately embracing the "Uncanny Valley" effect rather than attempting to hide it. Performances are also fairly good (Mahershala Ali and Jennifer Connelly crop up in the supporting cast), and the fights scenes are agreeably exciting.

Alita herself makes a compelling protagonist that the audience really roots for. She is a lethal weapon but also naïve, giving her an edge of vulnerability. Her optimism, courage, love of life and ability to see the good in people are hugely winning, and her stand against evil is undeniably thrilling. This more than anything enables the film to get by on sheer heart.

In short, Alita: Battle Angel is a flawed but exciting blast of cinematic thrills, well worth catching on a big screen if you love a good slice of cyberpunk. CR

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