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Alita: Battle Angel (2018)

Started by Blumf, December 09, 2017, 02:19:06 AM

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Blumf

It can be nice when the live action version of an old anime/manga captures the look...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aj8mN_7Apcw

Uhhhhh.... oh dear.

Well, this is due out next year. I... wish them luck?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alita:_Battle_Angel
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0437086/

Alberon

Recreating the big eye anime/manga look in real life doesn't work. I spent the whole trailer looking at that one special effect. It's one area where they should have backed off a bit.

Have to say though that Christopher Waltz seems to fit, facially at least, the role of Ido quite well.



At least the far future setting should make it more immune to the whitewashing charges it's probably going to get. But like the live-action Ghost in the Shell all the best bits will probably be lifted wholesale from previous films/OVAs and Mangas.

How long has this movie been in development hell though? Cameron's been pushing it for years.

samadriel

I adore the manga, but the big eyes on Alita are really distracting. Oh well, I'll probably be there on day one nonetheless. It's cool seeing all those shots taken from panels of the manga.

Kelvin

I don't understand. Does the character have abnormally big eyes within the universe of the manga/anime, or is the live action film simply replicating the art style by giving the actress big eyes?

Peru

Robert Rodriguez is an absolutely fucking disgraceful director.

Glebe

Fuck me, looks like a right damp squib.

samadriel

Quote from: Kelvin on December 09, 2017, 12:23:04 PM
I don't understand. Does the character have abnormally big eyes within the universe of the manga/anime, or is the live action film simply replicating the art style by giving the actress big eyes?
The latter. It's not a good idea.

Kelvin

Quote from: samadriel on December 09, 2017, 12:39:27 PM
The latter. It's not a good idea.

Are you serious? That is absolutely batshit. And surely other characters would need to reflect that artstyle, too?

Sin City managed it, I suppose, but that's because they built their entire aesthetic around the comic. They didn't just take a single character and make them look like a cartoon, while everyone and everything else looked totally natural.   

samadriel

In the comics, Alita's noted for her big lips, not her eyes. At least that wouldn't have required CGI.
Edit: and Kishiro only gave her unusually big eyes (by anime-girl standards) very early on, while his style was still maturing. I don't know why they feel the need to do this. I guess because Cameron got away with doing something similar in Avatar. Not a good excuse.

Dex Sawash


Kelvin

I just can't get my head around their thinking. Like anyone, from hard-core fans to mainstream audiences, would be happy with that visual. It's genuinely amazing to me that the studio didn't just say, 'guys, we're not sinking tens of millions of dollars into this fucking doll-headed titanic.' It's an artistic choice that guarantees the film will flop.

mothman

Quote from: Dex Sawash on December 09, 2017, 07:00:32 PM
Why not just make a cartoon?

They did, first - but it was full of, like, all these Asians, and nobody wants to see that.

Quote from: Kelvin on December 09, 2017, 07:34:19 PM
I just can't get my head around their thinking. Like anyone, from hard-core fans to mainstream audiences, would be happy with that visual. It's genuinely amazing to me that the studio didn't just say, 'guys, we're not sinking tens of millions of dollars into this fucking doll-headed titanic.' It's an artistic choice that guarantees the film will flop.

Chances are this was mostly in the can before Ghost In The Shell died a death. I'm guessing they're too invested in what they have to scrap it or massively change it now, so it's all or nothing; though I doubt you'll see anywhere near the level of promotion GitS had,that'd be throwing good money after bad.

Blumf

Quote from: Kelvin on December 09, 2017, 07:34:19 PM
I just can't get my head around their thinking. Like anyone, from hard-core fans to mainstream audiences, would be happy with that visual. It's genuinely amazing to me that the studio didn't just say, 'guys, we're not sinking tens of millions of dollars into this fucking doll-headed titanic.' It's an artistic choice that guarantees the film will flop.

You'd think there'd be a point near the start of production where they trailed some FX shots. It should have been then that they realised it couldn't work and went a different way. Truly baffling they took it to full production.

Phil_A

Quote from: Alberon on December 09, 2017, 10:23:03 AM
How long has this movie been in development hell though? Cameron's been pushing it for years.

Seventeen years, and that's what Cameron and Rodriguez have settled on. Fucking hell.

mothman

Thinking of a Battle Angel (whatever that is meant to be) just reminds me of "resplendent in his bejewelled battle shorts."

greenman

Quote from: Peru on December 09, 2017, 12:28:50 PM
Robert Rodriguez is an absolutely fucking disgraceful director.

I'm amazed he got put in charge of a $200 million movie given that previously he's only done relatively low budget genre stuff, I spose links to Cameron?

I get the feeling this could end up as a Pluto Nash level bomb, at least Ghost had a decent(if overestimated) level of exposure outside of Japan but this is very much cult material that probably can't depend on an existing audience.

Mango Chimes

It's a weird marriage: Cameron, known for going well over budget in order to fulfill a vision; Rodriguez, known for bringing things in within budget with ropey effects.

The decision on the look of this character is mental. She's like a straight-to-video Disney version of the "mental wealth" Playstation girl. Except it doesn't even look like they've manipulated a real person, she looks entirely like a distracting cartoon. That's your main character who the audience has to sympathise with.

Also, 'Battle Angel Alita' sounds cool. 'Alita: Battle Angel' sounds like someone giving you her business card.

mothman

Maybe as part of her emotional journey, she gets told she has to pick a fight with David Boreanaz?

surreal

Quote from: Mango Chimes on December 10, 2017, 07:30:40 PM
The decision on the look of this character is mental. She's like a straight-to-video Disney version of the "mental wealth" Playstation girl. Except it doesn't even look like they've manipulated a real person, she looks entirely like a distracting cartoon. That's your main character who the audience has to sympathise with.

Also, 'Battle Angel Alita' sounds cool. 'Alita: Battle Angel' sounds like someone giving you her business card.

The eyes don't actually bother me, not sure whey people are quite so up in arms about it.  Also I doubt that the trailer FX are finished, so I'd expect the final work to look a bit better.  I agree it does look quite video game like, the shot where she is diving through the air and the final shot particularly.

Agreed about the name, but I suspect that is so it makes it easier to refer to?  And it's more obvious that it's her name?

spamwangler

first the Emoji movie, now the snapchat filter movie. looking forward to luc besson's reboot of faceoff

greenman

Quote from: spamwangler on December 13, 2017, 02:05:59 PM
first the Emoji movie, now the snapchat filter movie. looking forward to luc besson's reboot of faceoff

The design of the character actually reminds me of those godaweful Besson CGI kids films, a cheesey anime/doll mashup.

Cameron just about got away with it in Avatar when the entire world was done in a similar style but this really doesn't look promising to me.

spamwangler

is manga about to be the new marvel/dc style cashcow?

bet theyre gutted weinsteen has ruined the possibility of a adam sandler fronted interpretation of The Rapeman

looking foward to when they rinse all of that and have to do a dark universe Viz Magazine franchise

Blumf

Quote from: spamwangler on December 13, 2017, 04:28:46 PM
is manga about to be the new marvel/dc style cashcow?

After GitS flopped (shite story) and, presumably, so will Alita (shite eyes), I doubt it.

Quote
looking foward to when they rinse all of that and have to do a dark universe Viz Magazine franchise

Wasn't Sin City (and sequels) a grim-dark Sid the Sexist?

spamwangler

Quote from: Blumf on December 13, 2017, 04:46:11 PM
Wasn't Sin City (and sequels) a grim-dark Sid the Sexist?

Sucker Punch was supposed to be Fat Slags, but the studio got in there and ruined the message


VelourSpirit

Why are we suddenly getting anime adaptations? Seems like this should have happened in the mid 2000s.

AsparagusTrevor

Quote from: TwinPeaks on December 15, 2017, 07:19:08 AM
Why are we suddenly getting anime adaptations? Seems like this should have happened in the mid 2000s.

My 15 year old self would've fucking ejacusploded at the thought of Battle Angel Alita and Ghost in the Shell live action movies. The 34 year old me is dreading what they do with Akira.

Alberon

Akira is another one that has been rattling around in development hell forever. They can't rival the original anime adaptation and frankly they shouldn't try.

Blumf

The only way they could justify Akira would be to do the whole manga, which would need to be a TV/Netflix series because you'd never fit it in a film or series of films.

Even then, no, because you couldn't do Tetsuo's mutation live action without it being either stupid or repulsive, most likely both.

idunnosomename

My lord this looks bad

Cameron's had a bee in his bonnet about getting this made for god knows how long

Do kids still like anime these days?

Spiteface

Quote from: idunnosomename on December 15, 2017, 08:42:46 PM
My lord this looks bad

Cameron's had a bee in his bonnet about getting this made for god knows how long

Do kids still like anime these days?

Apprently, in spite of at least 99.99999999% of it being horseshit.