First trailer for James Cameron and Robert Rodriguez's 'Alita: Battle Angel' is........uh, it's something
James Cameron talks about making a lot of movies, but it's pretty rare for him to actually get a project into production. His last film was Avatar- and if you haven't been keeping track, that's a whopping eight years ago. In between his deep sea voyages and controversial statements, Cameron has lined up a variety of possible projects. There's a film called The Informationist, an adaptation of a novel by Taylor Stevens that I first wrote about in 2012. He was originally supposed to direct the film after finishing the Avatar trilogy, but with that trilogy recently expanding to five movies, I have a feeling The Informationist is never going to happen with Cameron in the director's chair. His return to Pandora is finally rolling, and he's busy with those movies until 2025. I say all of this because, at one point, he was also going to helm an adaptation of Alita: Battle Angel. This has been one of those "in development" projects for as long as I can remember, but after years in pre-production, Cameron is now handing it off to Robert Rodriguez instead of directing it himself. The film will premiere in the busy month of July 2018, and it looks......well, quite different. Watch the trailer below!
Nope. Not happening. Absolutely not.
I'm not familiar with the original Alita anime series, and I'll admit that there are some really interesting visual ideas on display in this trailer. The world of this film looks strange and original and I'm kinda down for that. But based on this 2 minute glimpse of footage, I just don't know if I can watch this entire film- and that's entirely because of how they've designed the character of Alita. After Justice League and Rogue One, you would think everyone would have learned by now, but the Uncanny Valley effect is a very, very real thing. And it is distracting if you get it wrong. I know there has been discussion online about the intent of this character design (specifically around the idea of taking "anime eyes" straight from the original series), but I honestly don't care. It's too freaky. There's something so off-putting about every single shot with this character. Ultimately, if anything, I think this film will serve as an interesting test case for where we're going with cinema. We're at a point where directors are pushing limits to see what they can get away with, usually in a limited capacity. One or two scenes with a digitally altered Kurt Russell or Robert Downey, Jr.? Difficult, but plausible. An entire movie about a character that falls just short of looking like either an animated creation or a real human being? Now that's a different task altogether.
Alita: Battle Angel will open on July 20, 2018.
Nope. Not happening. Absolutely not.
I'm not familiar with the original Alita anime series, and I'll admit that there are some really interesting visual ideas on display in this trailer. The world of this film looks strange and original and I'm kinda down for that. But based on this 2 minute glimpse of footage, I just don't know if I can watch this entire film- and that's entirely because of how they've designed the character of Alita. After Justice League and Rogue One, you would think everyone would have learned by now, but the Uncanny Valley effect is a very, very real thing. And it is distracting if you get it wrong. I know there has been discussion online about the intent of this character design (specifically around the idea of taking "anime eyes" straight from the original series), but I honestly don't care. It's too freaky. There's something so off-putting about every single shot with this character. Ultimately, if anything, I think this film will serve as an interesting test case for where we're going with cinema. We're at a point where directors are pushing limits to see what they can get away with, usually in a limited capacity. One or two scenes with a digitally altered Kurt Russell or Robert Downey, Jr.? Difficult, but plausible. An entire movie about a character that falls just short of looking like either an animated creation or a real human being? Now that's a different task altogether.
Alita: Battle Angel will open on July 20, 2018.
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