#5-Storyline
(Vivian Option)
As one might expect, cramming mass volumes of a manga or
26 odd episodes of an Anime into on 2 or so hour film is going to be
impossible. I suspect that this Alita
movie will be trying to set up a film series of its own and stick to a bare
bones origin tale. That being said, Viv
has her own concerns about how the characters will be portrayed (especially
when it comes to Alita but we’ll get there in due time) and further doubts
they’ll be true to their original source characters. Likewise, Viv also let me know that the Alita
story itself gets a little complicated at times. Complicated doesn’t work unless youre doing a
multiple part adaptation and Alita really cant take that kind of risk if it
wants to somehow work. It has to be a
film that somehow stands on its own while honoring its source story rather than
just trying to look cool.
#4-Relevance of
the Title
Battle Angel Alita came out in the early 90’s. While it was a popular title in circles for a
while, I haven’t heard it spoken of as much as other titles from the decade,
like Ghost in the Shell. Lack of
relevance in the last decade could hurt the chances of Alita making an impact,
especially if it’s a US produced feature (more on that later). The title could generate buzz from die hard
fans and I could imagine some kind of Anime tie in happening to promote the
movie. But I feel like this is a film
that (much like Ghost in the Shell in a way) should have been attempted in the
90’s when their original Anime productions came out. Nowadays, fans are talking about dreams of My
Hero Academia or (even still) Neon Genesis Evangelion, more than they are
Battle Angel Alita. It makes me feel so
sad for it.
#3-Watering Down
to a PG13
From what Viv told me, Alita is a pretty violent Anime
title. This makes sense given that it’s
set in a post apocalyptic future where Cyborgs fighting each other to the death
is just another day. I’m imagining sort
of Ghost in the Shell or Armitage meets Ninja Scroll style action. So why, after seeing the first trailer, am I
expecting this movie isn’t going to get the R-Rating it probably needs? Not that I think the visuals are anything to
write home about at the moment, I think they look average tbh. But come on, Alita’s level of cyborg on
cyborg violence feels like something James Cameron could do in his sleep, you
know having done Terminator and all. But
to get more of an audience appeal, Im expecting a lot of watering down to the
title.
#2-The Current
State of Live Action Anime
Let’s face it, 2016 was a pretty bad year for Live Action
Anime films. While Japan did give us a
(supposedly good) Gintama movie, we got so-so responses or worse from the
Fullmetal Alchemist and JoJo’s Bizzare Adventure films. Lest we forget, the US had an even worse
year. Ghost in the Shell and Death Note
might’ve gotten so-so reviews from my end but I cannot ignore the “KILL EM WITH
FIRE” reception the anime community gave them and im not gonna argue. We had two chances to make films based on two
special titles (one of which is very near and dear to my heart). Instead, we got movies that join Dragonball:
Evolution as evidence that Live Action Anime (good ones and bad) should be
handled by Japan and Japan alone. At
least they know the sum of the parts of the manga/anime that make those stories
work…rather than rushing out a pointless cash grab.
#1-Those
eyes…those horrifying eyes (Vivian thoughts included)
I felt so bad for actress Rosa Salazar. The whole of my first viewing I was really
wondering if those were her natural eyes and that is a horrible thing to
think. Im sure she could act the hell
out of this part but…why try to make her eyes look the way they do? Was this a Cameron choice or a Rodriguez
choice? Does this make her character
seem more Anime? Why not just have her
look like Rosa Salazar does in real life, with some cybernetic augmentations
obviously? These eyes are just…something
isn’t right about this approach. Vivian
shared similar concerns with me about Alita’s overall design. I didn’t notice it until she pointed it out
how “Avatar” Alita looks in the trailer.
It wows me because aside from the obvious CG cosmetics she look
real. Is she being mocapped by Rosa
Salazar? Again, why go this route when
basic practical effects could have done a better and more convincing job. Honestly, it feels more like a bad joke than
anything else and do we really need another joke of a live action Anime
feature?
(BTW note: I totally see now
that Rosa Salazar plays Brenda in the Maze Runner movies. She’s hot and she can act, a force of nature
those movies don’t deserve. That just
makes the anime googly eyes even more insulting.)
Guess we’ll find out if we’re all right or wrong on this
one when Alita: Battle Angel arrives next summer…the same summer as Avengers:
Infinity War…wow this film might be more screwed than I think.
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