I know I’m a little late to this – it’s been out for more than 3 days so if you were looking for a review I missed the “important” window for reviews. But to hell with that, I watched the movie and I have opinions and you were crazy enough to come read what I want to say.
I enjoy anime for one big reason – they are far more likely to have interesting plot lines that the “weekly reset” shows like The Simpson or Family Guy. I like plot damnit. Alita has plot – and about the level I expected of a manga turned anime turned 2-hr movie. In other words, they try to cram a LOT of plot into a LITTLE time scale.
Which leads to my personal biggest beef with the film: the time scale. I couldn’t tell you if (most) of this movie was over the course of a few days or few months. It’s rare I would say this – but at least one montage to give me an idea of time passing would have been appreciated. I don’t think it would have hurt the pacing of the movie at all and might have even improved it.
The characters were ok. I felt most of them were fairly flat/stereotypical. No one broke the mold or surprised me (and I wouldn’t expect them to surprise anyone). It isn’t a complaint, I didn’t go into this expecting to have my perceptions or expectations challenged. But it’s something to be aware of. Don’t go to see this movie expecting it to revolutionize your life.
The plot is likewise interesting without being revolutionary. There was only piece of the plot where I wasn’t sure which way they were going to go until they crossed that line. I liked how deep and real the past of the world felt. At first it seemed like a “well, ok I guess they had a great society sometime in the past.” but they did a good job tying it back and making it all connect. I put this with plot because it’s kind of a plot point (not 100%, but probably a 60% plot-point).
Go to this movie to enjoy an interesting sci-fi/anime crossover. Go to this movie to see an interesting twist on a dystopian story. Go to this movie so we get another one – because if they do not make movie #2, I am going to be sorely disappointed.
Dream by Day 