Last December, 20th Century Fox released the first trailer for Alita: Battle Angel. Spoiler alert: it did not go well.
At the time of the trailer's release, the latest from director Robert Rodriguez and producer James Cameron was supposed to be hit theaters this past Friday, serving as one of the big blockbusters of the summer. Who knows if Fox got cold feet from the icy reaction, but it couldn't have helped. Anime fans and casual audiences alike were perplexed by the decision to give the main character freakishly large eyes, seemingly taking the Uncanny Valley effect to a whole new level. An inventive sci-fi film on this scale is always exciting, but Alita made a terrible first impression. Now set to arrive in the crowded holiday season, Fox is re-introducing their big gamble with a new trailer- watch it below!
Part of me thought the release delay would serve as something of a reset for Fox, allowing them to go back to the drawing board and come up with a different strategy for the marketing campaign.
Nope!
This is more of the same, just with a few more plot details and some refined visuals. A trailer like this isn't designed to persuade or dissuade anyone; you're either in or you're out. To me, it looks like a feature-length video game cut-scene, equipped with mildly impressive effects and saddled with a feeling of digital over-saturation. I'm still terrified by the main character of Alita, and I don't think that'll change in the 5 months between now and the film's December arrival. If Alita is meant to look unnerving, well, mission accomplished. But if that isn't the case, I don't understand what Rodriguez and Cameron are attempting to do with this character.
To be perfectly honest, this might just be a case of Fox dumping a movie and cutting their losses. Alita: Battle Angel is opening in what might just be the busiest December in years. With no Star Wars movie to attract audiences, the studios have prepped a four-course meal of blockbusters of every genre for hungry viewers around the world. Alita opens on the same day as Aquaman, Bumblebee, Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly's Holmes & Watson, and Steve Carell's Welcome to Marwen. It opens two days after Mary Poppins Returns. And it opens a week after Peter Jackson's Mortal Engines and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Plus whatever Oscar movies end up expanding over the holiday season.
It doesn't stand a chance.
Maybe there's a hidden classic here, but I'm not seeing it. All I see is a movie destined to be forgotten in a matter of days.
Alita: Battle Angel will open on December 21.
At the time of the trailer's release, the latest from director Robert Rodriguez and producer James Cameron was supposed to be hit theaters this past Friday, serving as one of the big blockbusters of the summer. Who knows if Fox got cold feet from the icy reaction, but it couldn't have helped. Anime fans and casual audiences alike were perplexed by the decision to give the main character freakishly large eyes, seemingly taking the Uncanny Valley effect to a whole new level. An inventive sci-fi film on this scale is always exciting, but Alita made a terrible first impression. Now set to arrive in the crowded holiday season, Fox is re-introducing their big gamble with a new trailer- watch it below!
Part of me thought the release delay would serve as something of a reset for Fox, allowing them to go back to the drawing board and come up with a different strategy for the marketing campaign.
Nope!
This is more of the same, just with a few more plot details and some refined visuals. A trailer like this isn't designed to persuade or dissuade anyone; you're either in or you're out. To me, it looks like a feature-length video game cut-scene, equipped with mildly impressive effects and saddled with a feeling of digital over-saturation. I'm still terrified by the main character of Alita, and I don't think that'll change in the 5 months between now and the film's December arrival. If Alita is meant to look unnerving, well, mission accomplished. But if that isn't the case, I don't understand what Rodriguez and Cameron are attempting to do with this character.
To be perfectly honest, this might just be a case of Fox dumping a movie and cutting their losses. Alita: Battle Angel is opening in what might just be the busiest December in years. With no Star Wars movie to attract audiences, the studios have prepped a four-course meal of blockbusters of every genre for hungry viewers around the world. Alita opens on the same day as Aquaman, Bumblebee, Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly's Holmes & Watson, and Steve Carell's Welcome to Marwen. It opens two days after Mary Poppins Returns. And it opens a week after Peter Jackson's Mortal Engines and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Plus whatever Oscar movies end up expanding over the holiday season.
It doesn't stand a chance.
Maybe there's a hidden classic here, but I'm not seeing it. All I see is a movie destined to be forgotten in a matter of days.
Alita: Battle Angel will open on December 21.
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