“I’d rather rule in Hell than serve in Heaven”, says Oscar winner Mahershala Ali in the new Super Bowl spot for Alita: Battle Angel. It’s not only my favorite part of this brief footage but one of the best lines in a movie I genuinely enjoyed. My review will be up in the morning, but for now take a look at the amazing visual effects on display from James Cameron and Robert Rodriguez, the unlikely duo who teamed up to bring the classic manga to the big screen.
The film stars Rosa Salazar in the title role, a scrapped cyborg who is rescued by a doctor who rebuilds her into the most formidable fighting machine in a dystopian world. Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, Mahershala Ali, Eiza Gonzalez, Jackie Earle Haley, and Keean Johnson co-star.
Here’s the synopsis: From visionary filmmakers James Cameron (AVATAR) and Robert Rodriguez (SIN CITY), comes ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL, an epic adventure of hope and empowerment. When Alita (Rosa Salazar) awakens with no memory of who she is in a future world she does not recognize, she is taken in by Ido (Christoph Waltz), a compassionate doctor who realizes that somewhere in this abandoned cyborg shell is the heart and soul of a young woman with an extraordinary past. As Alita learns to navigate her new life and the treacherous streets of Iron City, Ido tries to shield her from her mysterious history while her street-smart new friend Hugo (Keean Johnson) offers instead to help trigger her memories. But it is only when the deadly and corrupt forces that run the city come after Alita that she discovers a clue to her past – she has unique fighting abilities that those in power will stop at nothing to control. If she can stay out of their grasp, she could be the key to saving her friends, her family and the world she’s grown to love.
Alita: Battle Angel opens February 14th. I’m a little concerned about projections it’ll be a box office bomb. It doesn’t deserve to go the route of Ghost in the Shell and I hope the good reviews will prevent that from happening. I’ve included a behind-the-scenes featuring showing the incredible work done by WETA Digital to build the movie’s world.
