Alita: Battle Angel is based on the similarly named cyberpunk manga, Battle Angel Alita. This adaptation to the big screen has been in the works for a while with James Cameron (director of Avatar, The Terminator, Titanic, and Aliens) purchasing the rights to adapt the material twenty years ago, back in 1999. Being too busy to direct this film himself, Cameron stepped back into the producer role allowing Robert Rodriguez to take over the directors mantle. Let's just go right off the bat and say that Alita: Battle Angel is a supercharged visual experience that remains faithful to the source material.
Weta Workshop has done an astonishing job bringing this cyberpunk dystopia to life, with some gorgeous environments, realistic cyborgs, and some emotionally engaging motion capture work done with lead actress Rosa Salazar. The world building is quite thorough, creating a three-dimensional world that feels lived in. You get a sense of the varying social class distinctions and the law and order system in this world, and it feels legitimate. It isn't just a plot device, or set-piece inserted in for the sake a cool action scene. Everything seems to function well, with different systems intertwined. The technology is improving vastly, and it is getting to the point where it is difficult to determine what is real and what is CGI, and it builds that sense of wonder that the environment has.
Many of the cast do a very good job, with Christoph Waltz and Rosa Salazar building a genuine connection. While Mahershala Ali and Jennifer Connelly are high-class actors and do their roles well, the script doesn't really provide enough to justify the huge star power involved. Any other characters could have played those roles. There is a romantic interest in this film which mirrors the manga, but ultimately it felt forced and disingenuous.
For those that haven't read the source material, they will find the narrative rather fast moving. The film chooses to incorporate several chapters of the manga into a single film and creates a tangle of storylines that end up being rushed, not reaching satisfying conclusions, instead hoping that the action scenes will distract from the convoluted story.
To the filmmakers' credit, the action scenes are very well done. Streamlined and well paced, there is a sense of speed, power, and intricacy, while still being easy to follow. Often thanks to the overuse of slow-mo shots to highlight the speed and choreography, but it is impressive nonetheless. If you have seen the trailers you will know that the film has some pretty deadly scenes, however, the film also only comes with an M rating, this means the film pulls a lot of its punches and struggles to really set a serious tone when the protagonists are meant to be in danger.
Ultimately, the film reaches too far, in my opinion. It spends a huge portion of the film supplying exposition in the form of flashbacks & scientific explanations and tries to set up the "big bad" whom we never really get to see. It falls into the trap that the DC films have fallen into where they spend too much time having to explain backstory for the plot to make sense, and then spend the rest of the film trying to set up a sequel. Focus on making a good standalone film! The ideas are all there, but the narrative is too rushed and messy, and it leaves little room for character development. Strip it back to a simple origin story that covers the first chapter of the manga. That is the part that really builds the emotional connection with the audience, and it is the part that was largely skipped over to get to the action quicker.
The weak story does make the film less engaging, but the action scenes can certainly grab your attention. It's fun, and it never stops moving, but if you really want to have a full appreciation for the film, I would greatly encourage checking out the original manga. A lot will be repeated in the film, but you will get a fuller sense of the characters and get a development that isn't otherwise given.