Alita: Battle Angel (2018)

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j00t

j00t

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Erronius said:
That's great and all, but this really boils down to an Uncanny Valley issue.

If you had told me in advance that Gally was going to have "Big Eyes" at any point in the 10-15 years or so that I've been looking forward to the movie, I doubt I would have thought of it as a potential issue. It isn't like fans have been sitting on their hands, just waiting for the trailers to drop so that they could bitch about her eyes.

It's one of those things that doesn't translate seamlessly from the source material to a movie. You can argue until you're blue in the face, and it wont matter. The source material doesn't matter. It's literally people reacting to a relatively life-like representation with what is, to them, a creepy unnatural feature that throws them off. There's simply lots of weird shit that you can get away with in manga that isn't going to translate to film very well, if at all.

Another potential issue is the portrayal of Panzer Kunst and Machine Klatsch (SP?) when performed by relatively small/light protagonists against much larger/heavier antagonists. You can accept it for what it is in the manga, but translate it to the big screen, and people might be left with this nagging feeling that the physics are 'off', because frankly...it is. You can do a lot with special effects and CGI, but make a character go through a complicated series of maneuvers that seem to defy physics, only to punch a 5 ton cyborg 20 stories into the air, and people watching that sequence on film are going to subconsciously KNOW that there's something 'wrong' with it.

I think people really underestimate what artists can get away with in 2D media, versus films, and I'm not just talking about the Giant Fighting Penis Monster that showed up in the later issues. (though that's pretty fucking LOL, admittedly)

battle-angel-alita-last-order-982224.jpg
Click to expand...

i'll quote red letter media's star wars prequals review...

"you might not know that anything is wrong... but your brain does."
 
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Siliconemelons

Siliconemelons

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big anime eyes... EVERYONE had them IN THE ANIME... so why only "her" that is a big point.

It wasn't "she had big eyes" it was an art style....

Anywho- yeah they are rolling that shit back little by little like I said
 
Ambiturner

Ambiturner

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Mahes said:
If big eyes are the only complaint this movie has, then the movie did fantastic. Really?? Big eyes are what bothers you? She is not human. Should could have had eight eyes. If I judged movies based solely on how a character is portrayed from written work, I would not even bother looking at the previews, much less go to the theater. I am much more interested in the character dynamic and story. Now if all her face was, was one giant eyeball, then that might be a little odd. Her eyes are fine for what she is.

I have no idea how well the story is done but the effects look remarkable. That alone keeps it on my radar as a possible theater experience along with the fact that James Cameron is involved.
Click to expand...

The thing is that it's a lot of extra work to create a problem that doesn't need to exist in the first place.

There are lot more people like me that really don't like anime and would be turned off by this than there are pre-existing fans upset that she doesn't have creepy, unsettling eyes
 
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A

a_skeleton_05

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It's been many years since I watched the anime, but the only way the big eyes will work for me is if the movie has a scene where it shows others of her model in a way that makes the big eyes make sense for the purpose of the model. Some sort of child companion bots discarded from the upper city or something.
 
Erronius

Erronius

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j00t said:
i'll quote red letter media's star wars prequals review...

"you might not know that anything is wrong... but your brain does."
Click to expand...
RLM doesn't get nearly the credit they deserve



 
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a c i d.f l y

a c i d.f l y

ಠ_ಠ
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Had forgotten about this until they started ramping up the marketing for it. I'm not at all familiar with the source material, so other than the ridic eye balls, it looks interesting. Created by the Avatar (blue aliens) folks, so 3D IMAX might be worth the viewing even if the story is hot flaming garbage.
 
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PatrickStar

PatrickStar

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She the 3D Dolby last night l. Fantastic. Brutal parts included from the manga but some cliche plotlines as well. Didnt notice the problem with the motion capture after the first scene.
 
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Miguex

Miguex

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it looked nice, but the story was not good at all. everything just seemed rushed...she gets found in a trash heap one day and has an emotional attachment to the dr and starts falling in love with some kid 2 days later?
 
gshurik

gshurik

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This is one of the most visually stunning films I've seen. Watch it for the eye candy but expect the batshit anime plot.

Still worth watching if you like well choreographed action and stunning visuals.
 
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Siliconemelons

Siliconemelons

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For an anime, honestly this was a good plot - it just needs time - so the adaptation was not done well apparently.

It's a fairly common thread-

Set scene- large scope, built world you ware plunged into - lots and lots of world and the main over arching "plot" is given.

Then a huge and fast "zoom in" to your character and a well built character driven building arch that seemingly has not much or nothing to do with the overall plot, nor does it expand the world built in the 10 mile high view- it could be it's "own thing"

Then, the link happens - and the micro meets the macro - this is where "anime convolution" comes full bore- if not done right.

Good animes then have a great 3rd song and leave you feeling content on "both" faces of the story and characters.

Bad animes will get lost in this transition and keep having to go back and forth and never get anywhere or just end and leave you feeling empty on one or the other side, very bad ones on both.

Alita does the link simply with her run up the chain or bridge, whatever and is unsuccessful - I think that's where the OVA ends and the Mangas keep going.

So where does the movie end? If the movie is just her fighting local robots and shit then - without the expansion - then there should not be a macro inclusion, it's useless.

Matt daemon took care of that aspect already ;)
 
Homsar

Homsar

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From fans of the anime every review has been extremely positive. Surprised with some of the reviews here
 
F

fat12

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I saw this at the IMAX last night. I'm not familiar with the source material, but I watched a couple of minutes of the anime on YouTube. Seemed pretty cool. I thought the movie was pretty damned mediocre, though. The CGI was amazing, I generally don't like the 3D version of the films, but this was amazing. Maybe the anime was like this, but there was so much cheesiness throughout the film, it almost felt like a Disney Channel script at certain times. I think the directing is the major source to blame. The pacing of the film felt off. Robert Rodriguez somehow managed to make Marshala Ali seem like a shitty actor. The romance between Alita and Hugo was just flat out bad.

I dunno, maybe if you're a big fan of the anime/manga, it'd be worth the price of admission, but for anyone else, I'd pass.
 
Hateyou

Hateyou

Not Great, Not Terrible
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This movie started out pretty good, and the visuals throughout were great.

Then the story and plot holes started about 1/3 of the way through and it went to Aeon Flux levels of cringey terribleness. We were cracking up during serious scenes near the end cause they were so fucking horrible. My god this was bad, we were both excited to see it to. What a fucking waste of a night and money, going to bed annoyed tonight.
 
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Haus

Haus

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OK, saw this tonight with Mrs. Haus Mrs. Haus . Non-IMAX, Non-3d. I have not read the Manga, and only watched a small scrap of the Anime. From that perspective I enjoyed it. Yes there were some plot hole issues, but I think some of that was from them apparently trying to condense a TON of story into a movie. I'd give it a 7/10. The Mrs would probably give it a 5 as , like many of you, she was far less impressed by the plot handling that I was.

I went in wanting to see anime girl cyborg shredding ass, and I got what I went in for.
 
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LiquidDeath

LiquidDeath

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Wife and I saw it in IMAX 3D. I liked it a lot as only someone who never read the anime and understands that condensing an entire comic story into 2 hours is nearly impossible could.
 
Homsar

Homsar

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Will give a review later but do not see this movie in 3d. 3d ruined how beautiful the animation was
 
V

velk

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I thought this one was good, other than everything to do with Hugo. I mean it's not like the rest of the plot was high art, but the scenes with that guy were almost physically painful.
 
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