When the first teaser trailer for Alita: Battle Angel dropped last December, I wasn’t particularly convinced. It didn’t stand out in terms of aesthetics and it struck similar chords as the Ghost In The Shell live-action film, which isn’t exactly a great yardstick to measure up to.
And Alita’s eyes. Holy anime eyes, Batman, those unsettling yet piercing irises could cut through diamonds (and your soul).
But after watching the brand new trailer, I’ve been swayed.
Alita: Battle Angel looks simply marvellous.
The universe and aesthetic is stunning to look at, the fight scenes look pretty badass, and it appears there’s actually a decent take on the whole “cyborgs have feelings” schtick. There are a few little nitpicks, such as the overabundance of exposition, but I got lost in Alita’s eyes and immediately forgot most of them.
And of course, there’s Christoph Waltz. I mean, it’s just a pleasure watching the guy in any movie (except The Green Hornet).
Sadly, all those qualities aren’t going to offset the fact that Alita: Battle Angel will almost certainly be a box-office flop of gargantuan proportions.
History has never been kind to live-adaptations of beloved anime and manga. Not only is it a near-impossible task to cram a manga or anime’s storyline and tone into a two-hour film, Alita: Battle Angel cost about $200 million to make, meaning it will have to rake in some serious dosh just to break even.
So rather than a billion-dollar earning masterpiece like The Dark Knight, it is more likely that Alita: Battle Angel will fall in the same category as the live-action adaptations of Ghost In The Shell, Speed Racer, and Death Note – a super-pretty mess that will sadly lose more money than the GDP of a small country.
But hey, at least it will look good when it (most likely) fails.
I sincerely hope I’m wrong about Alita: Battle Angel flopping because it is clear that some serious thought and elbow grease went into making the film, and it would be a shame for all that effort to be for naught.
There’s still a few months before the film drops in December, so feast your eyeballs on the trailer in the meantime and try not to get lost in Alita’s eyes.
