ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL

Release Date: Malaysia, 05 Feb 2019

Genre: Science Fiction

Running Length: 2:02

Cast:  Rosa Salazar, Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, Mahershala Ali, Ed Skrein, Jackie Earle Haley, Keean Johnson

Director:  Robert Rodriguez

Screenplay: James Cameron, Laeta Kalogridis and Robert Rodriguez, based on the manga series "Gunnm" by Yukito Kishiro

Before going into the cinema, my expectations for ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL was set really low after what I've witnessed in the trailers. It was CGI heavy, the main lead is cosmetically CGI and the action scenes were just too loud and silly. I was prepared to be bored. I mean, just look at the unconvincing poster. C'mon!

But boy, was I BLOWN AWAY!

(But more of that later)

This movie is set in a dystopian future of the 26th century where cyborgs and humans live together in a run-down city known as Iron City. Most of them aspire to reach a utopian world known as Zalem which floats above the city (like the movie Elysium). The only way for these peasants to get to 'heaven' is to win in the violent sport of Motorball.

After being saved from the scrapyard, Alita (Salazar) was brought back to life by Dr Ido (Waltz), a cybernetic doctor. He soon becomes a father figure to the teen-aged Alita as she tries to recall her past.

This film worked for me because of Salazar's performance, the convincing CGI and the thrilling action set pieces. 

In the trailer, Alita's big eyes were creepy and distracting but thankfully, her naive but powerful personality over shadowed her appearance. One just can't help but to fall for her charm as she comes across as a fully formed believable teenage cyborg girl.  

The Iron City world is an eyeful at every frame as it's packed with details. WETA Digital, you guys did it again!

And finally, the ACTION SCENES! It's thrilling, violent and bizarre at the same time. Most of the cyborg characters are much better realized than expected. Some of them are really monstrous looking with OTT enhancements. 

Something about the action set pieces reminds me of Max Max: Fury Road . Although there isn't much blood splatter, its cartoon violence is unapologetic. It has several beheading, visceral bone crunching death scenes and a shocking scene involving a four legged *gasp*

I'm glad James Cameron and Robert Rodriguez didn't waste time in being all intellectual and cerebral on the ethics and philosophy aspects of this movie (eg. Ghost in the Shell) but went straight into producing an action-packed movie. 

As entertaining as it is, there were some jarring moments which made this movie feel like a motion picture made for tweens. Perhaps it's the cheesy dialogue, the central unconvincing romantic relationship and some cartoon-like characters. 

All in all, I felt that the filmmakers really pour out their sweat, blood and heart in bringing this movie to life on the big screen. I had a good time and it definitely exceeded my expectations (keep an eye out for a few uncredited guest appearances).

RATING: 8.5/10

DEADPOOL (2016)

Genre: Action / Comedy
Running Length: 1:48
Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin, Ed Skrein, T.J. Miller, Stefan Kapicic, Brianna Hildebrand, Leslie Uggams, Gina Carano
Director: Tim Miller
Screenplay: Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, based on characters created by Rob Liefeld & Fabian Nicieza

Firstly, let me get a few things out of the way. The DEADPOOL shown in Malaysian cinemas is an inferior version; it's censored artistically and as a result, it's distracting. Secondly, I'm not a fan of this anti-hero because from what I understand, this movie was made for the fans. What this means is that if you like the first 10 mins of the film, you will have a blast with the remaining time. If you don't like what you see in the beginning, Deadpool our main guy would not grow on you overtime. You'll just get more of the same.

Deadpool is definitely a different kind of superhero (or anti-hero) movie from the Marvel studio. Right from the start in the opening credit sequence, you know the movie is going to poke fun at itself and everything else; Liam Neeson, Hugh Jackman, IKEA, other superhero movies, Ryan Reynolds himself etc. To a certain extent, it works in small segments but not as an entire feature length. It can get pretty tiresome watching Reynolds spewing away smart-ass one-liners laced with F-bombs and dispatching (killing, maiming, torturing) baddies with absolutely no compunctions (Perhaps that's why the short short promo videos on YouTube leading to the release is so much more fun to watch). Sorry guys, I'm a non-fan.

In terms of story wise, it's actually a love story. Reynolds plays a mercenary named Wade Wilson and when he found out he has terminal cancer, he signs his life over to a shadowy organization with the promise of a cure + superhero abilities, so that he can reconnect with his lover. Unfortunately, in the process, he was horribly scarred and he swears revenge over the evil doctor who made him ugly.

Overall, this movie feels small because it was clearly shot on a tight budget (there's even a joke about this in the film) with only two real action sequences bookending the movie. In summary, the highlights of the movie are Ryan Reynolds and the 80s/90s music selection. The hype is true. Reynolds was born to play this role. As for the song selection, you just can't go wrong with Chicago, Salt-N-Pepa and "Wham!"

Rating: 6/10