“You told me the story of the war when the ground shook and the sky burned” with this line it opens the second trailer released for Alita: Battle Angel, released at San Diego’s Comic Con. The movie is set to be released on December 20th and it centers on a young woman in a dystopian world, fighting against cyborgs, social classes and her own past. This young woman is Alita, a cyborg herself. And this story is so much more than it seems, for the actual plot and the movie itself.
Everything started in the 1990s with the Japanese manga series created by Yukito Kishiro's. The story, known as Gunnm in Japan, gained enough popularity and success to turn into an astounding 9 volumes. This, of course, made possible several different adaptations, including a video game. But it seems that the time has come for Alita to demand her space on the big screen and obtain the attention of the entire world.

How is this happening? By the hands of James Cameron. The Canadian filmmaker, highly awarded, critically acclaimed and with great movies under his belt – Avatar, Titanic and Terminator, had set his sights on the story of Alita: Battle Angel as early as 1999. Now, with at least 19 years to get this project made, James Cameron took as step back and the title for director of the movie was taken by Robert Rodriguez. While James Cameron continues tightly involved with the making of the movie as a producer, Robert Rodriguez, director of Machete and Sin City has the movie ready to be released this 2018.
This movie is going to bring up the core story of Alita, the origins of her great adventure. We will be presented with a post-apocalyptic world set in futuristic times, where the economical division of society prevails and cyborgs are a common day thing. For our lead character the story begins when Doctor Ido (played by Christoph Waltz), a scientist specialized in cyborgs, goes through a junk yard and finds the torso and head of a cyborg – a young girl. The kind scientist takes the duty to reconstruct this cyborg, finding out that the brain is of human nature and all other part are created as a machine. The result is Alita (played by Rosa Salazar).
Now, Alita has lost her memory, she has no idea where she is and, perhaps more importantly, who she is. But sooner or later she is thrown into the eye of the storm. Fuel by curiosity and her own desperate need to uncover her past, Alita finds herself in the middle of tough situations that threaten to put her in danger, just to reveal that she’s more powerful than anyone would guess at first glance. The young cyborg had maintained deadly fighting skills engraved in her brain, these would totally come to great use as Alita encounters herself in front of numerous cyborgs, sometimes twice her size, that have been instructed to destroy her. That’s how we learn that Alita’s knowledge is really valuable and desired by the wrong people, starting that way a battle where Alita will fight for her world, for the people she loves, for herself and all she represents.

Visually, this action-packed movie presents itself immediately attractive. The combination of raw humanity and futuristic technology is always compelling. The design of the cyborgs and their actions will definitely be an eye-catching feature. We observe Rosa Salazar playing Alita with some larger-than-normal eyes, slightly unsettling and an interesting approach, also emphasizing the origins of Alita as a Manga character. The movie could be qualified in the genre of cyberpunk, depicting both high technology and the unstable social order that surrounds the plot.
It’s quite acceptable to recognize James Cameron involvement with the creation of the movie as a loyal attempt to properly recreate the original manga, its story and characters. For example, in the movie we’ll be able to watch Alita fight using Panzer Kunst, a martial art that’s essential in the original comic and will definitely play a valuable part of the movie. As well as the overtly violent sport of Motorball, another characteristic quality of the story, it will be portrayed in the movie.

After 19 years of waiting for this movie, James Cameron will see the project in good hands. Not only is Robert Rodriguez making a directorial grand move, but the cast also results spectacular and will surely make for a great movie that might demand sequels and the growth of a franchise. Rosa Salazar, who plays the lead character, has had experience with important roles in post-apocalyptic, dystopian settings – The Divergent Series and Maze Runner. Mahershala Ali, will be playing two roles in the movie, and the Academy Award winning actor is sure to deliver a fantastic performance. The rest of the cast, composed by exciting names, such as Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, Ed Skrein, Jackie Earle Haley, Keean Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez and Eiza González, seem to make up for a really diverse, talented and dedicated group that will bring an entire world to life.
Finally, right in the middle of the trailer, we can hear Alita lament “It’s the loneliest feeling not to know who you are”, reminding us in this subtle sentence that above the special effects and fight scenes, this a story of self-discovery and finding one’s purpose and strength, aimed at rectifying the world. Of course, for a young woman, everything looks even more heightened and impressive when in the body of a cyborg. Alita: Battle Angel, definitely promises to be a movie that will defeat its inner villains as well as the film industry expectations. It’s not a crazy suggestion to expect even more content in the name of Alita.