Benjamin Haberman

Originally Written in early 2019 Edited late 2023 (due to autofilter notice) I forgot, "never trust a trailer." But I did, and I walked into this movie expecting to give it 5 out 5 for visuals and 0 of 5 for mutilating the plot of my favorite Cyberpunk story of all time. I walked out, 8 of 10 total. Jebus. Cam and Rod somehow managed to hit EVERY SINGLE high point in the first 3 volumes of the Japanese manga (comic book), even if they had to cram in exposition and suffer some really melodramatic dialogue in the process. At first, a lot of the set up left a bad taste in my mouth, but as the movie progressed, I started to see how Cameron's interpretation of the source material was fitting together to tell the story. I saw new takes on loved and hated characters, and while some of the new takes fell flat (Hugo), others I was expecting to fall flat instead stood up proud (Vector)! All in all, the most successful attempt at a manga to live action film I've ever experienced... Flaws and all. ...No, the big eyes are not a flaw. Did you know that the human pupil dilates open to let more light in when looking at something pleasing, and closes down when looking at something ugly or dangerous? Cameron makes great use of Alita's eyes to show the feelings, fondness and infatuation, fear and hatred. Well done.