Gold Coast
April 11-12, 2026
Gold Coast Convention & Exhibition Centre
Hollywood hasn’t had the greatest success adapting anime into live action, but Alita: Battle Angel, from the creative team of James Cameron, Robert Rodriguez and Jon Landau provides great hope for the future. This film, over 20 years in the making, is an outstanding spectacle and finally portrays anime tropes appropriately.
The film set in 2563 – after The Fall, begins with Dr Dyson Ido (Christoph Waltz) digging through the dump below the sky city, Zalem. He recovers a broken but living cyborg and brings her back to his cybernetic surgery where he rebuilds her and gives her the name “Alita” (Rosa Salazar), starting her journey of self-discovery and the truths about the world around them.
The creative team obviously have taken note of issues with previous Hollywood anime/manga adaptions. Instead of diverting, this faithfully follows its original source material whilst standing very firmly on its cyborg legs for those not familiar with the story.
The film is also a no holds bar when it comes to anime violence, which is hardly surprising with director, Robert Rodriguez. Alita: Battle Angel is wonderfully unashamed to do the anime things that Hollywood has always felt too awkward to accomplish.
The pacing works well throughout and much is neatly set out for the audience. Occasionally, it can be a bit obvious where the plot is headed, even if you’re new to the story. Salazar provides a curious performance as Alita, however, the real stand out here is Waltz. Fans of the original material may not necessarily agree with casting choices, but pop culture fans will enjoy the appearance of Deadpool actor Ed Skrein as Zapan. Having said that, this film has some nice comedic moments and very sweet scenes early on to contrast with the otherwise serious tone overall.
Much has been touted in the marketing about its visual effects and battle sequences, which actually live up to the hype. The geography of such scenes are fairly clear for the most part and with slow motion for the audience to catch up. Alita’s eyes in particular are easy to accept and often play a clever part in transitioning to past life scenes.
Alita: Battle Angel could be the start of a new anime live-action film movement, if Hollywood studios sit down and learn from it. This film is a masterclass in how to make a good anime adaption, and with hope, can be taken further.
Alita: Battle Angel opens up across Australian cinemas on February 14
