If you were to tell me last December that Robert Rodriguez’s latest gamble with live-action manga filmfare Alita: Battle Angel was going to eventually pull me in by it’s release, I’d stop short of telling you to have your head examined before long.
Undoubtedly, there’s no question that 20th Century Fox’s first teaser at the time didn’t exactly do wonders for folks of my mindset who felt this film lost its way from a Pixar release. Fast forward nearly a year and two trailer pitches later and the studio has rolled out a new trailer that clearly indicates some ample improvements have been made on the VFX front.
Rodriguez takes from Kishiro Yukito’s classic manga and features mo-capped actress Rosa Salazar in the title role of an abandoned cyborg brought back to life by a compassionate doctor who sees her potential in lieu of her mysterious past as it catches up. As it so does, the futuristic tale unravels into a clash of deadly games and epic battles with other heavy metal badasses that make up the film’s cadre of villany.
From visionary filmmakers James Cameron (AVATAR) and Robert Rodriguez (SIN CITY), comes ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL, an epic adventure of hope and empowerment. 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 while 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.
Assuredly the film’s extended post-production window played a role in the work being applied to bring this adaptation properly to life for it’s February 14 release next year – important, given the progress that the past two years have shown with live-action manga/anime adaptations. It’s another chance for a Hollywood studio to get it right, and as far as trailers go, for the most part, it sells even better!
