Alita Battle Angel

And this week's Friday night movie has been.....Alita Battle Angel!

Original image located here. Accessed 22nd February 2019

My interest in anime truly blossomed during the nineties when my impressionable teenage mind became aware of these Japanese cartoons and how they did things differently to western animation. At the time, watching this breed of animation seemed 'badass' and 'not for the faint-hearted' and far from the 'nerdy' stigmata that anime tends to attract. It was also during this time that i managed to see the likes of Ghost in the Shell, Ninja Scroll and Akira. And in amongst this clutch of titles was one Battle Angel Alita.

I did think highly of the title at the time - and still do years later, especially when quite a few anime seen in this period now come across as puerile (although not the afore-mentioned titles). So when i heard, years ago, that James Cameron was keen on adapting it, i was all for it. Little did I know however was I would have to wait for nearly two decades to see the final product.

It would be cynical of me to decree that nearly two decades of waiting couldn't hope to match the result - not to mention realistic - but somehow, this movie still manages to impress. The big eyes of Alita took some getting used to but the motion capture and the movements were certainly eye-catching. Rosa Salazar does a superb job carrying the movie and a lot of the cast managed to hold their own even when competing against a green screen of special effects (Christoph Waltz especially). And speaking of the green screen, what a special effects bonanza it is. Well choreographed action scenes, inventive designs and some truly mind-blowing action sequences.
Furthermore, clearly this adaptation follows the anime closely, as i recognized certain scenes and plot details. So this is indeed an adaptation of anime that gets the source material and proves that there is indeed an audience outside, what is ultimately, a niche interest.

One question though: Does this adaptation owe more to the anime or the original manga? Because the anime only covers the first two volumes of a nine volume series. In any case, i sincerely hope there is a sequel coming out of this adaptation because hey, why stop at the end of volume two?