"I WILL NOT STAND BY IN THE PRESENCE OF EVIL", an inspiring line spoken by the protagonist in Alita: Battle Angel when facing an indomitable and frightening villain got me thinking that I will not stand by in the presence of clueless movie critics giving lukewarm reviews to this excellent movie. Hence my motivation in writing this review to a film that I consider a great visionary triumph with such groundbreaking special effects not experienced since Avatar and a world-building as dazzling as last year's critically acclaimed Blade Runner 2049.

Based on the manga by Kishiro, the creative combo of Rodriguez and Cameron have created a world so technically stunning and cinematically immersive that it stirred and delighted my soul during the whole movie.

At its heart, Alita is a tantalizing adventure about teenage self discovery and self fulfillment, although disguised by the plot which stated the protagonist as a 300 year-old alien berserker. The story combines science fiction with martial arts in a dystopian future. The fight scenes are as well choreographed as say The Matrix but avoid over indulging in extended and repetitive fight sequences. There's a lot of exposition fitted into a 2-hour movie, hence some scenes seemed to be truncated in order for the story to advance accordingly.

That said, the plot has familiar elements made new but in more interesting ways. Elements of a world constantly being monitored borrow heavily from The Hunger Games, with the adrenaline infusing Motorball acting as "the game". The action scenes are thrilling, at times violent but as explained earlier, never over indulges. And when such scenes are short, I found myself wanting for more, hence repeat viewing ensues.

The film ends with somewhat of a cliffhanger, with fanboys like me hoping against pessimistic box office forecast that this movie will make enough money to warrant 2 more sequels to complete the overarching story of one of the most interesting female characters in one of the most visually arresting, imaginative and energetic science fiction movies of all time.

Go watch Alita: Battle Angel. Highly recommended.

As a longtime fan of Gunnm(Battle Angel Alita), I am satisfied. I appreciate the production team took their time to do the research of the original serials. The adaptation is great, they filtered out few "acquire taste" and swapped in elements that would make much more appeal to general public. The film really kept true to the original manga and reassembled almost everything from the manga the scenes, mechanical bodies, characters and the world they lived in. They did a great job on capturing Alita's slightly naïve stubbornness, the "all in or all out" euthanasic, and the pursuit of who she is. Storywise, the film ingeniously weaved the first 11 books of manga together, brought up few events that was happening in the 2nd chapter of Alita's adventure to the 1st movie. Which is nice since I bet they're already thinking of the next Alita movie. But as few of Cameron's work, the dark side and the ugliness of irontown wasn't rendered enough. The lack of depth on the ugliness made the whole plot a bit light, the emotional conflict wasn't intense enough and the romance plotline which is very important in the 1st chapter a little bit lack of depth. The overall CG is stunning. Other than the wanted flyer and the parasite's face the rest of CG is absolute marvelous. All in all, definite a great Gunnm movie, will definite watch it again and again till the sequel is out!!!

"Sin City" director Robert Rodriguez's manga-inspired, post-apocalyptic, science fiction, cyberpunk, origin epic "Alita: Battle Angel" is a spectacular, but predictable fantasy extravaganza set in the dystopian future of the 26th century. The action unfolds in the year 2563, after an Armageddon referred to as "The Fall," otherwise known as "The Great War," has devastated Earth. The eponymous heroine is a formidable cyborg warrioress, abandoned to rust on a scrap heap, who fears nobody and nothing. Miraculously, Dr. Dyson Ido (Christoph Waltz of "Inglourious Basterds"), a bespectacled cyberphysician, rescues her remains, and then revives this 300-year old combatant. Like Rodriguez's previous, mature-themed, actioneers "El Mariachi" (1992), "Desperado" (1995), "From Dusk Till Dawn" (1996), "The Faculty" (1998), "Once Upon A Time in Mexico" (2003), "Planet Terror" (2007), "Machete" (2010), "Machete Kills" (2013), and "Sin City: A Dame to Kill For" (2014), "Alita: Battle Angel" qualifies as a triumph of style over substance. Each of these B-movies is the equivalent of cinematic junk food. Fast-paced, outlandish, but diverting nonsense, these nine guilty pleasures are ideal if you find yourself plagued by insomnia. Rarely does Rodriquez fail to deliver. The combat scenes in "Alita" rival those in the Keanu Reeves' classic "The Matrix." James Cameron, who has helmed masterpieces, such as "The Terminator," "Aliens," "The Abyss," "Titanic," and "Avatar," co-scripted the screenplay with "Terminator Genisys" scribe Laeta Kalogridis. Reportedly, Cameron bought the rights to manga writer Yukito Kishiro's "Battle Angel Alita" (1990) and then sought to direct it himself. The success of "Avatar" and the pressure of directing four "Avatar" sequels forced Cameron to shelve Kishiro's manga heroine. Happily, Rodriquez stepped in and took the helm, with Cameron doing double-duty as writer & producer. Manga fans will be pleased to learn "Alita" preserves a substantial part of Kishiro's characters and conflict. Of course, Rodriquez has toned down the horrific gore from the source material to avoid an R-rating. You won't see Grewishka sucking the brains out of his enemies as he did in the manga. After he resurrects Alita, Ido equips her with a cyborg body which he had designed initially for his crippled but now departed daughter. Alita awakens the next day and admires the lovely designs that adorn her new body. Ido tells her she is 300-years old, and he explains she was a battle warrior like none other in the universe. As in the Jason Bourne thrillers, Alita remembers nothing from her past, until she engages in combat. Nevertheless, our heroine doesn't know what to make of these fleeting memories, especially when she performs the ancient, martial arts, fighting technique "Panzer Kunst." Once she shifts into full-combat mode, Alita is not to be toyed with, despite her petite stature. In some respects, Alita's repeated clashes with an obnoxious, overbearing, part-human/part-cyborg colossus, Grewishka (Jackie Earl Haley of "Watchmen"), imitate the Biblical story of David & Goliath. Alita never backs down from any fight. Later, when she is reduced to little more than a head and torso with one arm, she refuses to capitulate to Grewishka. By far, Alita ranks as the most pugnacious female warrior cyborg you'll ever see in any movie. She can make fools of her opponents, such is her acrobatic skills and timing. At one point, Grewishka acquires a weapon which transforms each finger of his mechanical right hand into flying chains with grappling hooks that can be deployed at supersonic speed against an unsuspecting opponent. Indeed, Grewishka is one of Alita's chief adversaries. After Alita acquires her new set of limbs and legs, she learns more about Iron City, Zalem, and Motorball. A war has decimated Earth, and only one gigantic, airborne, saucer-shaped city out of ten has survived, and it is called Zalem. The Earth itself resembles a sprawling wasteland, and Zalem has built a factory and farms on the land beneath it to supply and nourish its hopelessly affluent citizens. The multi-lingual metropolis of Iron City lies beneath the shadow of Zalem, and the refugees of this holocaust have gathered from all parts of the Earth to settle beneath it to provide for the floating city. Gigantic tubes that anchor the flying city to the terrain are designed to transport cargo to Zalem. Literally, Zalem constitutes a heaven on Earth. Naturally, everybody dreams of ascending to Zalem, but immigration is strictly forbidden. Zalem has combat measures to repel any attempts to breach it. In this respect, "Alita: Battle Angel" resembles the Matt Damon & Jodie Foster sci-fi saga "Elysium" (2013) where disenfranchised minorities struggled to enter the city orbiting Planet Earth to take advantage of its life-saving medical treatments. Not only does "Alita" allude to "Elysium," but it also features a sport reminiscent of "Rollerball" (1975) starring James Caan as well as the 2002 remake with Chris Klein. In both versions of "Rollerball," everything revolved around a futuristic sport called Rollerball, a souped-up version of roller derby, with life and death outcomes which mimicked the mass hysteria that galvanized ancient Roman audiences during their bloodthirsty gladiatorial tournaments. Supposedly, only the greatest player in the murderous sport of Motorball has a chance to ascend to Zalem. The harrowing Motorball scenes are among some of the most exhilarating, with a wide variety of cyborgs careening around recklessly as if they were competing in a demolition derby. These cyborgs resemble refugees from a "Transformers" escapade. Not only does Alita tangle with the minions of a tyrant, Vector (Mahershala Ali of "Green Book"), who supervises Motorball betting, but also with an omniscient overlord, Nova (Edward Norton), who manipulates Vector from Zalem. Altogether, watching the above-average "Alita: Battle Angel" is a lot of fun. When Rodriquez isn't dazzling us with the staggering, CGI-laden, gymnastic battles, he trots out an impressive cast, including Jennifer Connelly, Ed Skrein, Rick Yune, Jeff Fahey, and Jai Courtney, with Michelle Rodriguez performing a voice-over in Alita's memories. Produced for a mind-blowing $170 million, "Alita: Battle Angel" concludes on a promising cliffhanger. Whether or not a sequel ensues will depend entirely on its box office statistics.