Age of The Nerd
Directors James Cameron and Robert Rodriguez have teamed up for what looks like to be a fantastical and wild film in Alita: Battle Angel. While people are still dealing with their San Diego Comic-con hangover from this past weekend, 20th Century Fox releases an all-new trailer for the film which is based off of the popular Manga series “Gunnm.”
[su_youtube_advanced url=”https://youtu.be/w7pYhpJaJW8″]INSERT VIDEO HERE[/su_youtube_advanced]The trailer looks absolutely insane. It has a blend of great looking live-action stunts and heavy use of CGI which looks amazing at times, and at other times looks a bit too much like a video game. But while we are on the subject of CGI, the film has already seen its share of controversy. When the film’s first teaser came out, fans of the Manga series were none too pleased when 20th Century Fox decided to cast a non-Asian actress in the main role but rather casted a Canadian-American actress (Rosa Salazar) and used CGI to give her the anime-styled look. It’s a very touchy subject in today’s culture. Marvel’s Doctor Strange faced the same issue in 2016 when Tilda Swinton was cast in the role of The Ancient One and the film received a bit of backlash, although the backlash didn’t affect the box office.
With that being said, the film does have a very diverse cast. Alita: Battle Angel stars Rosa Salazar, Christoph Waltz, Mahershala Ali, Jennifer Connelly, Ed Skrein, Eiza González, Michelle Rodriguez, Jackie Earle Haley, Casper Van Dien, Elle LaMont, Jeff Fahey, Lana Condor, Jorge Lendeborg Jr., Idara Victor, and Sam Medina.
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 hits theaters December 21. The film is directed by Robert Rodriguez who also co-wrote the screenplay with James Cameron and Laeta Kalogridis.
