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6 ARTS »CULTURE Fo x Studios ‘Alita ’ is a blast fe v WILLIAM EPI FOR NON-FANS “ A lit a ” is a m o vie I w en t in to w ith s k e p tic is m . I ’v e n ev er read a n y o f th e original books or seen the anim e so all I had to go on was the trailers. The film lo o k ed lik e an in te re s tin g action adventure with plenty of unique designs but I ho n estly d id n ’ t know if it would be any good. M y skepticism w as im m ed iately blow n away w hen I saw the m ovie. “ A lita: Battle A n g e l” is a fast-p aced a c tio n p ack ed s p e c ta c le t h a t ’ s as exh ilarating to w atch as it is b eautiful to behold. The film focuses on a future e a r th , re c o n s tru c te d a fte r a g reat war called the fa ll destroyed m ost o f society. The last flo atin g city rebuilds w ith a slum un derneath it, producing all the supplies needed to keep the rich happy w hile the poor suffer below . . In these slum s a doctor o f robotics looks for parts in a junkyard and comes across a mysterious cyborg girl clinging to life. He fixes her body and helps her recover but she w akes up to fin d s h e . has no m em ories. The rest o f the film is focused on this girl, now called A lita, as she discovers m ore about h e rse lf and the strange w orld around h er, all th e w h ile cruel and pow erful fo rces seek to fin d her. W h ile a ll th a t m a y se e m lik e a stan d ard se t up fo r a s c i - f i m o v ie , “ A li t a ” is a n y th in g b u t s ta n d a rd . From the unique rugged look to all the techno lo gy to a ll the creative cyborgs and prosthetics the film is filled w ith style, w ith p len ty o f am azing looking e ffe c ts and in tricate d etail on every surface. In fa ct th a t w ould probably be m y fa v o rite th in g ab o u t th e m o v ie , its aesth e tic. From the b e a u tifu l, clean look o f the flo a tin g city to th e little flo urishes on A lita ’ s arm decals, it ’ s fille d to th e b rim w ith im a g in a tiv e designs for every in ch o f th is w orld. The pacing is also fa n tastic. It starts out fast in the beginning and keeps the m om entum going un til the end. But it still takes, m om ents to slow dowh and let m om ents linger on gorgeous shots that look like they were ripped straight out o f the graphic novels, again letting those am azing designs and im agery be Clackamas Print " seen in all their beauty. That p acing does lead to the m ovie b e in g p re tty d e n s e , h o w ever. T h ey pack a lot o f story in to it and it can all go by really quick if y o u ’ re not paying atten tio n . But I feel they balanced it ju st righ t so you can follow the story and s till fe e l a ll th e e m o tio n s and con nectio ns your suppose to get out o f the characters. This also leads to the film having an atypicalstructure that does not follow the con ven tio n al three act structure we u su ally see in A m erican m o vies. It d o esn ’ t so m uch have a begin n in g m iddle and end as it ’ s m ore b roken into five or so continuous sections that show you a b it more o f the story and continues on w ithout a clearb reak . For so m e p eo p le th a t cou ld be a turn o ff but I personally enjoyed it. I th in k it ’ s great to see a m ovie w ith a d ifferen t structure, and one th at fits w ith th e h ig h e n ergy sto ry th e y ’ re tryin g to tell. This movie makes me excited for any future “ A lita ” m ovies that m ay com e out and interested to read the original series. So w heth er y o u ’ re an old fan or are ju st looking for so m ething new and e xcitin g to w atch , “ A lita: B attle A n g e l” has so m eth in g for everyone. I p < ■' * * * 'IS ' 'SS " ' ; -I AND OLD ' FANS 1 $ After nearly 20 years in the making, James Cam eron’ s adaption o f “ Battle A ngel Alita” has arrived. Based on the Japanese m anga “ G u n m ,” “ Alita: Battle A n gel” follows Alita, a cyborg rescued and revived by a doctor in the p o st-ap o caly p tic, dystopian world o f the form er United States in the 26th century. Cam eron was first introduced to the franchise by writer and director Guillermo Del Toro. A n instant fan of the manga, C am ero n drew fro m “ A lita ” w hen developing the television show “ Dark A ngel” in 2000. It was around then that he first expressed interest in developing a big budget film based on the series but did not believe he had the technology to properly translate the series to the silver screen. Finally, in 2016, the film was scheduled for release. A fte r recruitin g Robert Rodriguez to direct, production w as launched. Cameron’s love for the source material is apparent from the first moments of the film , from the introduction o f Daisuke Ido (renamed Dyson Ido in the film ), the cyber-physician that finds Alita in a scrap heap, to the character o f Alita herself. From its p rotagon ist to th e several villains that appear throughout the film , “ A lita” manages to create a vibrant, if th e cla ck a m a sp rin t.co m eccentric world, something many other post-apocalyptic film s have failed to do. The movie truly shines during its action sequences, utilizing the talents of both its director, responsible for movies such as “ From Dusk Till D aw n,” "S in City” and “ Grindhouse: Planet Terror,” and the science-fiction chops o f Cam eron him self to create a sensation found in few other m odern film s. Rodriguez’ s penchant for the o v er-th e-to p action is especially apparent, while Cameron’ s more polished hand can be seen quietly guiding behind the scenes. Rosa Salazar’ s perform ance as the titular character is particularly impressive, her p erform ance en cap su latin g the m anga’ s version o f A lita perfectly. Ed Skrein, known for his roles on Game of Thrones and Deadpool, is also particularly impressive, serving as one o f the film ’s primary antagonists. Som e fan s o f the m anga m ay note that the story is significantly sped up compared to that of the manga, but the change is a good one. Though some of the original story has been removed for the sake of the run tim e, the decision seems to have been the right one, allowing the film to adopt the proper pacing for the medium. O f course, the film is not able to cover the entirety o f A lita ’ s story and does end on a cliffhanger, though there is a definitive ending to the film ’s con flict It is clear that Cameron intended the film to launch a series, perhaps spanning the entirety of the source material, though the series future is currently in jeopardy due to a less than impressive opening weekend. G rossing only $130 m illion over its o p en in g w eek en d , th e film seem s unlikely to break even. Especially with the surprise reveal of another character (or actor, more accurately) near the end o f the movie, this is a shame as a sequel is unlikely to be produced without proper financial gain. Even without the possibility of a sequel, however, “ Alita: Battle AngeJ” still stands as one of the best science-fiction film s released in receiit memory, far surpassing the recent “ Star Wars” films or last year’s “ Ready Player O ne.” - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ---- February 20, 2019
