@bazsi said:

The story was a bit of farfetched, the drama was not really exciting.

You're not selling it very well.

Even, though the movie lasted about two hours and seemed to jump from one scene to another, I still feel like they should've finished the whole thing in a single movie instead of trying to fish for a sequel. Since everybody was just appearing in different places in different scenes, and the worst offender being Jennifer Connelly, but I'll get to her in a second, they might as well have added a few more minutes and have Alita teleport to Zalem and kill that Damon guy. Anyways good grief with Jennifer Connelly's character. She just zaps from one place to another. Is she looking at her map and using the fast travel option or something?

The OP sums it up well enough. The main problem for me is that there is absolutely nothing in this story that you haven't seen somewhere else. I guess that's down to the source material, but still, the whole thing is derivative. You could probably play a game watching this by picking up all the things you had seen in other movies or anime.

One of the things with a movie that relies so strongly on technical wizardry is it is only a matter of time until it looks laughable. There are parts of this movie that already look a bit ropey. Does it stand up watched without being dazzled by the effects? Sort of. It's interesting, but nothing to get excited about. For people who haven't seen much anime and the design elements have a novelty value, it will probably seem a lot more interesting.

@Jacinto Cupboard said:

The OP sums it up well enough. The main problem for me is that there is absolutely nothing in this story that you haven't seen somewhere else. I guess that's down to the source material, but still, the whole thing is derivative. You could probably play a game watching this by picking up all the things you had seen in other movies or anime.

One of the things with a movie that relies so strongly on technical wizardry is it is only a matter of time until it looks laughable. There are parts of this movie that already look a bit ropey. Does it stand up watched without being dazzled by the effects? Sort of. It's interesting, but nothing to get excited about. For people who haven't seen much anime and the design elements have a novelty value, it will probably seem a lot more interesting.

Have you seen any of Rodriguez's Mexico trilogy films? If so, how does the film stack up to those movies?

The only work I am aware of that I have seen by Rodriguez are Sin City, the Spy Kids movies, and The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl. Sin City I gave 6/10 and the others I haven't rated because I only saw them because of my own kids. So I can't make any comparisons.

I will say what I have seen is technically well made and no doubt has a very good understanding of what that particular audience wants to see. What I am not seeing (yet) is any kind of particular 'spark' or auteur style. I think that the former goes some way to explaining the latter: that he is a tradesman employed to deliver a particular result and that having a particular style probably isn't high on his agenda.

Thanks for your reply. You might check out El Mariachi and "The Misbehavers" from the Four Rooms film, both by R.R. I feel he does exhibit a particular 'style' in them which he seems to have moved beyond over the years.

Cheers. I have queued up all three of the trilogy to watch based on your suggestion.

I gave it an hour before bailing (half an hour than I usually would for something I'm not enjoying, due to my hope for a decent sci-fi). I didn't consider a single element even average (other than the CGI). I've no time for powderpuff sci-fi or anime that doesn't even attempt tax the mind but appears to be playing it straight.

Remove the budget to more modest levels and this would be down there with the lowest 'straight to video' fare, or whatever the the modern equivalent is. It just felt like it was aimed at kids, but without any of the qualities of great kids work like WB cartoons or Beetlejuice.

3/10

@aholejones said:

Even, though the movie lasted about two hours and seemed to jump from one scene to another, I still feel like they should've finished the whole thing in a single movie instead of trying to fish for a sequel. Since everybody was just appearing in different places in different scenes, and the worst offender being Jennifer Connelly, but I'll get to her in a second, they might as well have added a few more minutes and have Alita teleport to Zalem and kill that Damon guy. Anyways good grief with Jennifer Connelly's character. She just zaps from one place to another. Is she looking at her map and using the fast travel option or something?

To be fair, they actually gave her much more to do in this movie than her character in the anime (she wasn't even in the manga at all). In the anime, she mostly just gave exposition while standing around naked.

@BaronOfHair said:

Anyways good grief with Jennifer Connelly's character. She just zaps from one place to another. Is she looking at her map and using the fast travel option or something?

True. Her work here is inferior to her scenes in The Hot Spot, and also the final sequence of Requiem For A Dream

This sounds oddly familiar.....Mechajutaro is that you? They (apparently) can't keep a brother down!