All You Need to Know About Alita: Battle Angel. Is It Really the Best Anime-Adapted Film In History?

We have come to know James Cameron as that one director who has given us mind-blowingly amazing films over the years, including the epic Titanic and the revolutionary Avatar. Now, he has brought us Alita: Battle Angel.

Although Cameron is not the director of this film, he is one of the producers and his input into the way the film has turned out is quite evident. The film itself has not opened to amazing reviews, but the filmmakers seem to be quite satisfied with the outcome.

The theme of the film is adventurous in the sense that such a storyline has not been portrayed on the big screen before, at least as far as our memory serves. The story revolves around a cyborg heroine who is placed in a world that has entered the post-apocalypse era. It has taken approximately 15 years for the filmmakers to put this film together, with a budget of somewhere in between $150 to $200 million.

Alita: Battle Angel promises to deliver an unprecedented cinematic experience to the viewers. Whether or not they like it is another story.

Not Bothered About Success

The makers of Alita are not new filmmakers who are concerned about whether the film would be able to rake in the profits which are commonplace with James Cameron films. Both Titanic and Avatar have gone down in history as one of the highest grossing films of all time, with Titanic having received 14 Oscar nominations.

With Alita, the mission was to transcribe the vision of the filmmakers onto the screen in its most authentic form, even if that meant sacrificing a few commercial aspects of the film. According to Jon Landau, who is one of the co-producers of the film, the most critical people of the film are the filmmakers themselves (which includes James Cameron and also the creator of the manga Yukito Kishiro), and as long as they are happy with the outcome, it becomes irrelevant how the movie is received by the audiences.

The story takes from the work of the manga created by Yukito Kishiro and is set in a post-apocalyptic world

A Long Time in The Making

According to reports, the script for Alita had first been penned by Cameron all the way back in 2004, but since he was too focused on building up the world of Avatar, he handed over the Alita project to Robert Rodriguez. Now we are not sure how different the movie would’ve been had it been directed by Cameron himself, but considering the business it is expected to do in the first five days of its opening on 14^th February, which is approximately $25 million, we are already seeing a difference in that aspect of the film.

However, the future of the film franchise does depend on the success of this one. According to Cameron, if Alita is able to do well enough on the box office, there are two more sequels which have already been mapped out and could go into production as soon as they are given the go-ahead.

A Challenging Project

Of course, making a futuristic fantasy and science-fiction masterpiece is no ordinary task, and for director Rodriguez, the hardest bit was finding an actress who could do justice to the lead role in the film. The filmmakers were looking for someone who could carry the spirit of the main character, a factor that had the potential to make or break the film.

This role was eventually filled by Rosa Salazar, who, with the help of CGI effects, delivered a stunning performance.

Audiences would find Salazar’s eyes to be mesmerizing in the film, which is the work of brilliant CGI effects

Salazar is not the only actress in the film, of course. Many other celebrities, including some of Hollywood’s A-listers such as Christoph Waltz, Mahershala Ali, and also Jennifer Connelly play crucial roles in the film.

So far, the film has commanded a decent 7.6 rating on IMDb, and a 60% on Rotten Tomatoes, two of the most reputed websites for film ratings. Many have applauded the film for its authentic portrayal of purely manga characters, referring to the CGI-altered big eyes of the lead. One audience review even went as far as declaring it the best anime-inspired film to have ever been made.