Alita: Battle Angel -v- Captain Marvel - Review
Also hovering over both these movies, and most particularly over Captain Marvel, and threatening to derail any constructive criticism of these films like a fart in a lift or Jacuzzi, is a whole heap of non-controversy drummed up by internet basement dwellers on one side and overly zealous activists on the other. One side is claiming that Captain Marvel is either the worst film ever made, anti-male, (?!?) and poorly acted and at the other end of the spectrum they are shouting that it is the second coming of the Suffragette movement, here to smash the glass ceiling (spoiler for this review - it is neither).
Bar this paragraph I'm going to skip past the controversy, there's plenty written about it online and these reviews are meant to focus on the content of the film, not the political climate surrounding it. So if you're here for mud-slinging you won't find anything stronger than the previous paragraph.
Alita: Battle Angel
In the way the film tells its plot and builds its world, I would say it is clear that the filmmakers knew that the majority of cinemagoers would be filthy casuals like myself and would not have prior knowledge of the source material. As such, the opening stretch of the film can drag a bit as we are introduced to you standard sci-fi world of the haves and have nots (big similarity to Elysium with a rich utopia in the sky, overseeing the working class living in slums). We are first introduced to Christopher Waltz's robo doc - he provides "medical" help to the multitude of robotic citizens - trawling the scrapyard that is made up of all the rubbish that the rich from the city in the sky chuck out. Here he finds the decapitated head of Alita, takes her home and fits her to a new robot body.
Much like the fantastic sci-fi Ex Machina and its special effects, the effects in Alita are sublime, with the titular hero is a wonderful mixture of Rosa Salazar's acting but enhanced to literally wide eyed optimism and determinism into a sprightly, dexterous, and deadly cyborg. She's the beating cybernetic heart of the film and whilst the plot undersells her, her portrayal is equal parts endearing and powerful, you won't be able to keep your eyes off her.
Through her reawakening by Waltz, Alita is struck with a good dose of that old storytelling favourite, amnesia, which lets her work as our entryway into this world as she tries to work out who she is and why she is dumped from the rich and powerful.
All sounds fairly standard and rote, yes? Well yes it is, but it is wrapped up in such a vibrant and dynamic world that even when the plot seems to grinding its cybernetic gears the visual will keep you engaged. In particular, a large portion of the plot revolves around cybernetic bounty hunters and a conspiracy involving people harvesting bots for parts, which leads to some delightfully crunchy yet balletic bouts with souped up cyborgs. The film manages to be incredibly violent whilst sitting within the realms of an M rating due to the damage dished out being primarily to robots. So you will see decapitations, bodily mutilation, and characters chopped into itty bits. Despite lacking literal guts the battles pull no punches. The highlight surrounds a poorly seeded robot competition called Motorball which is basically the video game Twisted Metal but with cyborgs on skates, armed to the teeth, chasing a ball around a labyrinthine race track.
However, here in lines the problem, with the highlight of the film being so poorly seeded, it feels like the plot is simply going through the motions to line up the cogs to get to this point. For much of the plot, whilst Alita has agency, she isn't aware or engaging with the grand conspiracy for much of its run time. Instead it feels like we are watching vignettes of her life with a slight connective tissue in between the set pieces.
Worse still is that for all its focus on a strong female lead, it is depressing to see that not 10 minutes after exploring her new world post her resurrection at the start of the film, she locks eyes with the young, handsome, male lead, her eyes somehow become even wider, and bang it is love at first sight. I really thought we'd moved past this rote trope of male/female lead character locks eyes on the opposing sex and they are destined to be together instantly. Whilst the film flips gender stereotypes as it moves into its final third it still doesn't get past the fact that this relationship is built off such boring foundations.
Additionally, the film suffers from a strong case of "NEXT TIME ON ALITA" leaving on a huge cliffhanger just when the main plot has kicked into gear. Fingers crossed Alita does well enough as the world is interesting and perhaps now that we have gotten past the world building, the writers can dig a bit deeper and pull out a real winner for part 2, something the matches the killer specs of Alita herself.
Captain Marvel
Captain Marvel plays like a greatest hits of Marvels' back catalogue (it has the sci-fi aspects of Guardians of the Galaxy, fish out of water(ish) hijinks of Thor, and even a remix of Stark's escape from captivity from Iron Man one). Even if the film isn't greater than the sum of its parts due to a slightly subdued and meandering tone for a long middle stretch of the film, it is buoyed by an unconventional heroine who doesn't fall back into "tough female tropes."
Captain Marvel opens with the not-yet-named-that heroine, Veers (Brie Larson) in training on her home planet of Hala, home of the Kree, under the supervision of stoic and slightly Vulcan Jude Law, impressing upon her the importance of logic over emotions. Through a botched mission against the goblin like Skrulls (an enemy force that the Kree have sworn to wipe out), Veers finds herself standard a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away namely Earth circa early 90s. On her journey she is haunted by shifting memories of a life on Earth, potentially before her life on Hala, and so she seeks to return to Hala, defeat the Skrull and enlighten her past. So yeah, another amnesia plot.
It goes without saying that Brie Larson is, much like Salazar in Alita, the beating heart of the film. But whereas Alita traded in on the streotypes of the innocence of youth giving way to a hardening of the heart, Larson's Veers does not start off with wide eyed optimism. She is simultaneously strong willed and impulsive but doesn't show it through rage but through a steely eyed determinism. She doesn't take prisoners when it comes to her coworkers and colleagues, hitting similar notes to other sci-fi heroes such as Katee Sackhoff's Starbuck in the reimagined Battlestart Galactica, and Tatiana Masalany and her many roles in Orphan Black, and the film heroine to beat all film heroines, Signourney Weaver in Alien and particularly Aliens. Linking all these characters is a strength of spirit that dwells behind a bravado. But what I think Larson brings to the table that is not often seen is the quiet intensity - her power isn't shown purely in pyrotechnics, but in a look and a glance.
Opposing her is the bad guy actor of the moment, Ben Mendelson. Picking Mendelson was a savvy choice for Marvel, as the casting brings various preconceptions as to what his character is like. Suffice to say, this is not another corporate monster in the vein of his roles in Rogue One, Ready Player One, and Robin Hood. Instead, he brings a sense of quirky down to earth humour, helped immensely by him being allowed to lean into his natural Aussie accent. A twist later in the film regarding his motives came as a surprise to me but I realise hardcore Marvel fans (or maybe even better filthy casuals than me) may not even consider it a shock, but nevertheless the twist was a surprise to me and added a novel, and political wrinkle to the film.
Supporting Larson is a magically de-aged Samuel L. Jackson, pre-Shield Fury, experiencing meeting his first superpowered being and joins Veers, almost like a buddy cop film. The de-aging on Jackson is immaculate, you'll likely notice it once and say "Wow, I know that's him made to look younger" and not think of it again. It is never distracting only enhancing, as special effects should be. His banter and relationship with Veers make up the bulk of the film. However, there are some gaps in the narrative that may leave you scratching your head - namely why he is so trusting of Veers if now is the first time he is encountering superhuman people? I think there could have been greater tension mined from this team up.
Whilst the film reaches a heady action packed climax, with a brawl backed by a too the on the nose song pick of "Just a Girl" by No Doubt (stellar soundtrack all round with Nirvana and Garbage also appearing), the majority of the rest of the film takes a far more subdued approach, instead focusing on character. However, as mentioned above, it often feels like a missed opportunity to really delve into the motivations of the characters. Yes, we understand that Veers wishes to reclaim her past but most of the dialogue between her and Fury is purely banter and doesn't often highlight their convictions. However, come the shift into act three, most character motivations are laid bare and this gives Larson and the supporting players room to breath, if only for a brief moment before charging headlong into a finale that whilst action packed, does not resort to the city wide scenes of destructive these flicks often devolve into. Despite this, the central thesis of the film is clear: there will be those in life looking to limit your potential, and applying this to the clear feminist tilt of the film, it is all about smashing those glass ceilings.
If there is one further complaint to make, it is aimed squarely at the source material. With someone as powerful as Captain Marvel, much like Superman, it at times it feels like her enemies don't often pose much of a threat to her, at least physically. Whilst in this film they nimbly dodge this problem on occasion with threats being directed at the ones she wishes to protect, the resolution of the flick leaves her in such a superpowered place, that come her inevitable showdown with uber-villain Thanos in Endgame, the writers surely have their work cut out for them to make it seem like a fair fight, both in body and spirit, given how both Captain Marvel and Thanos were the characters to beat in their films.
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