Somewhere between Rupert Sanders’ Ghost in the Shell and Christian Rivers’ Mortal Engines falls Robert Rodriguez’s Alita: Battle Angel. Like the former, this is Hollywood mangled manga, being opted from hit Japanese franchise Gunnm. Like the later, the film comes from a producer known for visual spectacle and overlong screenplays: James Cameron, in this case. If Alita does little to disprove the theory that western cinema can do no justice to East Asian anime, it certainly offers enough style, flair and action to disguise the troubling lack of substance.
By the time you finish reading this sentence, a new a-lister will have joined the – already hugely impressive – cast of Dune, the new film by Blade Runner 2049director Denis Villeneuve. That’s how it seems anyway.
On occasion, it’s a real test of strength to endorse certain films. That’s not because they’re utter tripe, but because they manage to pull off tackling tough topics with such a blithe ease that it seems a bit wrong on a human level to recommend them. Sorry Angel is one such film but it has absolutely nothing to apologise for.
The Film Blog 