This Is The Future We Want, Right?
AI running the mundane aspects of our lives.
Fighting the non-believers in advanced Mech armor.
Off-World colonies.
A war against The Machines.
Wiping out the bugs on Klendathu.
Emotionally-supportive comfort-bots like Joi from Blade Runner 2049.
Tell me you don’t dream about it?
You don’t?
Jim Doesn’t Waste His Time On Losers, Tommy
With the possible exception of Christopher Nolan, James Cameron is our greatest living director. He does not fail. There is no need to run down his incredible filmography here but it is notable that even the few movies he has merely produced are all very good:
- Solaris (3/5)
- Strange Days (3.5/5)
- Point Break (3/5)
On Alita: Battle Angel, Cameron is not only producing but also contributing to the script and receives a full writing credit.
It’s kind of odd that this will be only the fourth feature film that he has produced while not being behind the camera himself. The guy really loves those damn submersibles.
The synopsis for Alita sounds like a mashup of Blade Runner, Elysium, Rollerball, Ghost In The Shell and Edge Of Tomorrow:
An action-packed story of one young woman’s journey to discover the truth of who she is and her fight to change the world.
Er… yeah, that’s the cornball 20th Century Fox description, let’s listen to someone who’s read the graphic novel:
Alita is a creation from an age of despair. Found by the mysterious Dr. Ido while trolling for cyborg parts, Alita becomes a lethal, dangerous being. She cannot remember who she is, or where she came from. But to Dr. Ido, the truth is all too clear. She is the one being who can break the cycle of death and destruction left behind from Tiphares. But to accomplish her true purpose, she must fight and kill. And that is where Alita’s true significance comes to bear. She is an angel from heaven. She is an angel of death.
Have a look at the latest trailer:
Mech-War. Ships falling out of the sky. Lost tech. Some kind of Neo-Coliseum roller derby. A whole squad of killer cyborgs with crazy-impractical weapons. Mr. Moonlight. Jen Connolly.
Plus, even with all of the motion-capture, Rosa Salazar still shows ten times the emotion that Brie Larson does in Captain Marvel.
This looks pretty fucking bad-ass. But…
Let’s Not Start Sucking Each Others’ Power Units Just Yet, Gentlemen
I have no doubt that the story and dialogue are going to be great because Cameron has proven to be a skilled writer, but there are a couple of questions:
The CGI Looks Very Cartoony
Maybe that is the point here? That these cyborg assassins aren’t supposed to really look human? But their metal armor and weapons should look real.
I’m not convinced.
WETA Digital did the effects and we all know how janky some of the Lord Of The Rings effects looked.
Robert Rodriguez
Dude is a huge X-factor. Has he ever directed a good movie? A movie you watched twice?
This is obviously the biggest movie he has ever directed and hopefully, in between writing, producing and directing 4 more Avatar movies, Cameron was there with a guiding hand.
RR also has a writing credit, so that does give one confidence. Because JC would never let some dummy mess up his script, right?
Right?
Alita: Battle Angel looks to upgrade the cyberpunk genre February 14, 2019.
