Alita: Battle Angel Review & Comments

Saw it last night in 3D IMAX and completely agree with your review, Kumari. It looks spectacular and the money is on the screen, let down with the usual plot holes and rush to make a sequel. But it is by far the best 3D IMAX experience I have had in a few years and the film is certainly fun. I went in with low expectations, as I explained on the podcast, but was blown away by most of it. Great review.
 
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Seeing this next Tuesday in 4k laser projection with Atmos on a large screen so i'm curious how the film looks !
Going in with low expectations though, maybe then i will be surprised :D
 
Yes saw this last night at the Dolby Vision/Dolby Atmos cinema in Leicester Square. Best 3D I've seen and I've never seen a cinema with so many speakers. I enjoyed the film as I'm a manga fan. Definitely set up for sequels - the dilemma with this material is you feel a long form version would suit better - would explain the back-story better - some of the combatants are a little hard to figure out - George
 
I saw this at a free screening on Monday, I enjoyed it...but it did get muddy in the middle. I thought there were more postives than negatives....I left thinking I wanted to know more about the character and the universe they were in. Which means I want to see the sequels. We were lucky enough to see it at the Odeon iSense...whcih was worth it!
 
Saw this in IMAX 3D and can forgive all of its shortcomings, as a spectacle it is pretty incredible. CGI is phenomenal, 3D is subtle and used only to give the whole experience depth, nothing gratuitous or gimmicky. Parental aside: it does push the 12A rating to its limits.
 
Went to watch this too in IMAX 3D last night. The visuals are amazing and to me worth the entry fee alone! Really enjoyed the film, do agree with HCK, got a bit muddy in the middle and would have been nice to know more of the back story but all in all a great popcorn flick with some of the best visuals i've seen in a while. The CGI is very well done and the sound is fantastic.

I'd give it 8/10 - bring on the sequel!
 
Saw this in IMAX 3D and can forgive all of its shortcomings, as a spectacle it is pretty incredible. CGI is phenomenal, 3D is subtle and used only to give the whole experience depth, nothing gratuitous or gimmicky. Parental aside: it does push the 12A rating to its limits.

Agreed. Was thinking of taking my 11 yo daughter at some point, but having seen it I think it may be a bit much.
 
as good as the cgi is my brain keeps reminding me its fake. watching the trailer its basically a fake, real, fake, real experience, I might enjoy it if the whole movie was 100% cgi
 
As a real SF fan (particularly Camerons early stuff - Avatar not so much) why do I feel so uninterested in this film?

Sorry to sound like Marvin the Paranoid Android (slowly rusting in my corner) but the fact Cameron has passed on directing (remind anyone of the Mortal Engines situation?) and all the info so far - this review, trailers etc, just leaves me thinking this look awful and offers nothing beyond a "Theme Park 3D" experience.

Really sorry to say this not having seen the film but doesn't appeal at all. I hope I'm wrong and anyone off to the flicks has a great time with it. Personally Id seek out The Favourite instead which was surprising funny and wonderful, but don't go near it if you didn't enjoy The Lobster!
 
As a real SF fan (particularly Camerons early stuff - Avatar not so much) why do I feel so uninterested in this film?

Sorry to sound like Marvin the Paranoid Android (slowly rusting in my corner) but the fact Cameron has passed on directing (remind anyone of the Mortal Engines situation?) and all the info so far - this review, trailers etc, just leaves me thinking this look awful and offers nothing beyond a "Theme Park 3D" experience.

Really sorry to say this not having seen the film but doesn't appeal at all. I hope I'm wrong and anyone off to the flicks has a great time with it. Personally Id seek out The Favourite instead which was surprising funny and wonderful, but don't go near it if you didn't enjoy The Lobster!

Try reading the source material. For me, this film isnt about Cameron at all but the Manga it was adapted from. Is one reason why i am scared to go and see it
 
I might be off to the flicks tonight. Bottom line - is it worth a cinema visit over The Mule and Stan And Ollie, both of which I still have yet to catch?
 
I might be off to the flicks tonight. Bottom line - is it worth a cinema visit over The Mule and Stan And Ollie, both of which I still have yet to catch?

The Mule can be watched at home or on Netflix. I expect the same is true of Stan & Ollie. Alita has to be seen on the big screen (the best screen you can find).
 
At my local Odeon in 3d it looked muted/washed out
Wasn't too impressed..
Rollorball rip off was good scene thou
 
This is where Dolby Vision worked. The 3D image was as bright as a 2D image in my local Everyman. I’m going to try a 2D film in Dolby Vision to see how that looks
 
Found this to be fairly meh, it was all too much and not enough. They crammed so much in but it all felt so insubstantial. Characters lacked weight, motives seemed to change at the drop of a hat. It all looked great of course, but it wasn’t anything that hadn’t been seen before. The young lady playing Alita had glimmers of charm, but it kinda rushed through the vulnerable part to get to the kicky, smashy stuff. Action was solid but again unremarkable. Thinking about it the biggest issue is, it feels like a prequel.
5/10
 
This is where Dolby Vision worked. The 3D image was as bright as a 2D image in my local Everyman. I’m going to try a 2D film in Dolby Vision to see how that looks
Yeah I think regular cinemas peak output is about 48 nits, Dolby Cinemas about 106 nits, which is why when displaying 3D (presumably at 106/2 nits) it's why it doesn't look dim
 
I saw it last night at a late show and it was very enjoyable. It helped that it was almost a private screening on a large screen.

I getting into the habit of going late especially for these 12A films. I find that there are less chances of finding the really lively teenagers have a debates about "really" and "like" or the parents with babies and toddlers. I went to see the Meg during the day and it was a nightmare. Impossible to concentrate with babies and toddlers crying and chatting.

Alita is what it says on the tin. A film adapted from manga which is entertaining has great use of 3D. It will probably won't be shortlisted for the Oscars but it is very deserving of the price of a cinema ticket, keeping in mind that it is 12A and viewers might be very lively. It is left on a cliffhanger, no doubt creating the path for a second on.

If you decide to go a watch it at the cinema, go to watch it for what it is and not for what you want it to be. It will make the film more enjoyable.
 
Gonna watch it this weekend I've read the manga so hopefully it's just as good will be watching it with SWMBO only a fiver at my local odeon as for Cameron he does seem to be passing on director duties recently
 
Found this to be fairly meh, it was all too much and not enough. They crammed so much in but it all felt so insubstantial. Characters lacked weight, motives seemed to change at the drop of a hat. It all looked great of course, but it wasn’t anything that hadn’t been seen before. The young lady playing Alita had glimmers of charm, but it kinda rushed through the vulnerable part to get to the kicky, smashy stuff.

Unlike Aquaman ;):p

Thinking about it the biggest issue is, it feels like a prequel.
5/10

Definitely. Unless you're making a back-to-back trilogy like LOTR, the first film in a potential franchise needs to be self contained. It's the height of presumption to tell a fraction of a story when there's no guarantee the film will be successful enough to get a sequel.
 

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