An entertaining CGI-heavy film that starts strong, but falls flat in the end. This film is packed with CG. The environments, the vehicles, and the cybernetically-enhanced people all have a touch or more visual effects. While most of it looks great, there’s usually something just a bit off at times, and it starts to feel more like a cartoon than live action. However, the work they did for the lead character is awesome. The textures on Alita’s ornate robotic frame look incredibly real, even in close-ups. Although her face isn’t perfect, it’s easy to ignore the flaws and be drawn in by the range of emotions that she displays. The voice acting by Rosa Salazar is excellent, as she quickly endears herself to the audience despite being a blank slate. The rest of the cast does an okay job, but few of the other performances stand out. The action is a lot of fun, but it’s mostly a bunch of CGI characters going at it, so you occasionally get sucked out of the moment, especially when they effects aren’t as good as they need to be. The overall story is good, but the overall lack of a backstory hurts, especially when what we do get feels too much like they’re saving it for a sequel. This is also true of the ending. Too much time is spent on mediocre villains, while the big bad looks to be saved for a later day. I was a bit disappointed by the 3D presentation. It felt like there were a lot of opportunities with the action sequences to take advantage of it, but they rarely did.
*** out of *****