Forum - View topicNEWS: Alita: Battle Angel Film to Earn Estimated US$41.7 Million in U.S. in 5 Days
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Tenchi
 Posts: 4469 Location: Ottawa... now I'm an ex-Anglo Montrealer. |
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Alita: Battle Angel might have won the weekend but it appears that The LEGO Movie 2 has retaken top spot on Monday for the President's Day (and Ontario Family Day) crown with an estimate $6.3 million to Alita's $6.05 million. That's just the estimates and they're close enough that they might switch places in the "actuals".
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DangerMouse
Posts: 3982 |
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My IMAX showing had a rather nice turnout.
Freaking loved the movie. Really hope it does well enough for them to continue.
Do it. I think it's worth seeing it on the big screen. |
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Tenchi
Posts: 4469 Location: Ottawa... now I'm an ex-Anglo Montrealer. |
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Ack, looks like Alita: Battle Angel is down a million from the initial $6.05 million President's Day Monday estimate to just a hair over $5 million in the actuals, whereas The Lego Movie 2 was up over the Monday estimates by more than $600K. Yes, I did see Alita: Battle Angel on Tuesday afternoon and I thought it was solid fun, basically exactly what I expected a Hollywood movie based on the Gunmn manga to be like. It didn't really exceed my expectations but I wasn't disappointed by it either. The theatre was mostly empty, maybe two dozen people at most, but it was only a 2D screening and I'm assuming most people who are interested in seeing this would prefer to see it in 3D, which I probably would have done myself if 3D didn't give me migraines. If people wanted the full IMAX 3D experience, they'd probably have gone to a different multiplex (Cineplex Landsdowne) than the one I saw it at (Cineplex South Keys) anyway. Of the... erm... two "Hollywood" live-action adaptations of Japanese sci-fi source material I've ever seen on the big screen rather than years later on cable, I think I still prefer Edge of Tomorrow/Live, Die, Repeat/All You Need is Kill to Alita: Battle Angel. |
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jdnation
Posts: 1995 |
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So I finally saw this on Tuesday.
It's a mixed bag. Overall, I think if you're a fan of the manga, it's a lot of fun seeing a lot of stuff being brought to life. It is very faithful plot-point wise to the source material. However the dialogue is terrible. The acting is terrible. The character interactions are terrible. It's like nobody, not even the director, is trying, save for Rosa Salazar who's trying her darnedest. But even then, Alita doesn't behave like a real person, but a caricature of one designed by a marketing committee. If you told me that everyone else was deliberately acting badly, so that their CG Alita would look better by comparison, I'd believe you, but it was a gamble that didn't pay off. Worst of all, any actual feeling of danger is removed, because she's always so cock-sure of herself. After watching the film, I went back to nosing through the first 2 volumes of the manga, and while Alita can be a smart ass, there's more motivation behind those moments. She's either desperate to help Ito or someone else in that moment, rather than just being a sh*!-starter, and also more importantly, in the manga she is also often times afraid and even uncertain and unsure about herself. This is missing from the film. So too for other things such as Hugo's personal motivations for heading up to Tiphares/Zalem, as well as the main antagonist henchman's back-story. So the first half of the movie is really not very good, at all. Thankfully, when the punches start flying, it gets more entertaining. I believe the movie would've been better served if it ditched the motorball stuff and the uber villain for a sequel. And instead just focused on a father/daughter relationship between Ido and Alita, settled for a one-sided romance between Alita and Hugo. And had the main plot revolve around bounty hunting, and seedy underground fighting rings as the spectacle, like the original manga, and just establishing living conditions of the world, class differences, cyborgs versus humans, and Alita coping with the positives and drawbacks to being a cyborg. But it went far too big, to a point where it's obviously setting up sequel material that so far we have no idea is a guarantee. Not a good idea at all... If your audience is not having a good time about the story, then it's just a further kick in the face at the end to make your film an advertisement for another film. If it just stuck to what the OVA covered it'd have time to flesh out the characters and be a far better (and cheaper to make) movie, that could've paid off with a larger spectacle and new committed audience for a sequel. And even if it didn't get a sequel, it'd have been a pretty good stand-alone flick. That said, by the second half, I did settle for what I was getting and did enjoy it. And I am interested in a sequel. So there's definitely something working in the film. But outside of production values, and some well choreographed fight sequences, and faithful representations of the manga material, everything else about it just plain sucks. So imo, enjoy it as a mediocre popcorn flick and bask in the special effects. It's sad that Cameron didn't get a chance to personally make this as I believe he'd have done a far better job than Rodriguez.
I liked the first Silent Hill. But for my money, the best video game adaptation and a pretty good cult classic movie overall is Mortal Kombat. Even its cheese factor has been well preserved and I'll never get tired of it! Sadly the sequels for both those films are terrible... |
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Frosty The DopeMan
 Posts: 12 |
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Is the movie like worth seeing in the theaters ? I don't watch much movies these days. The ones I do I just watch them online for free.
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tygerchickchibi
 Posts: 1448 |
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I loved the movie.
I really don't think there might be a sequel, though. :c |
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Alestal
 Posts: 605 Location: Dallas, Texas |
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I'd pass and just watch the OVA series. While I agree with comments that this was decent for an adaption, it really wasn't anything special. Although, I'd like to mention that they did make sure to include two very disturbing scenes that stood out to me when I watched the OVA. spoiler[ Chiren going up to Zalem and Hugo's epic death.] That surprised me! |
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Tenchi
Posts: 4469 Location: Ottawa... now I'm an ex-Anglo Montrealer. |
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Come to think of it, the dialogue did bother me a little. The dialogue during exposition scenes, which, for a film like this, is a good percentage of the film, felt a bit clunky and the delivery of some of it sounded just a little stilted, almost as though I was watching an anime dub even though it was made in English. It could be that they were intentionally trying to make it sound like the old English dub of the Battle Angel OVA, in which case they probably did a good job. |
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jdnation
Posts: 1995 |
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If you have any interest at all, then the best way to enjoy it would be in theaters, especially in 3-D and with Dolby ATMOS. I also tried the D-Box seats for the heck of it, but there was nothing special about that.
Both the dialogue and delivery were poor. Everything was extraordinarily cliche' as well. Much of it lazy when it didn't need to be. I think the biggest culprit was the fact that they were trying to fit too much into the movie, so rather than just letting characters naturally play out, everything was written to move on as quickly as possible. |
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18182 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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Utterly disagree. This movie should be experienced in 3D, and the bigger the screen, the better. (I've seen it once in IMAX and once on a regular movie screen and the former was definitely more impactful.) While I'll grant that the dialogue and acting weren't the strongest and the relationship development was the weak point, it shined plenty well enough in other aspects to satisfy me. |
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Color2413
Posts: 49 |
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I have to wonder if the title is part of the problem, at least in traditionally "Christian" parts of the world. In Christian theology, "angel" has some very specific connotations, and a casual moviegoer who is unfamiliar with anime is unlikely to know that it has been used far more expansively by the Japanese creative community. If you are trying to decide which movie to see at your local multiplex, you're likely to wonder "what the heck is a 'Battle Angel'?"
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ninjamitsuki
 Posts: 590 Location: Anywhere (Thanks, technology) |
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A casual moviegoer who doesn't watch anime probably doesn't think, say, Charlie's Angels is about literal angels. The term "Battle Angel" was entirely a product of localization, in fact. The original manga was called Gunnm. |
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Steve Minecraft
 Posts: 120 |
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This is why I disagree when I see people say it's the perfect manga adaption. It really isn't. There's numerous changes and differences like the characters and dialog like you said. It may not be Dragonball Evolution or Death Note bad, but its not a "1:1 of the manga" like I see people" advertising it as. It's still a Hollywood movie at it's core and has all the trappings of one. |
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Tenchi
Posts: 4469 Location: Ottawa... now I'm an ex-Anglo Montrealer. |
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Are we getting another updated article about Alita: Battle Angel's US/Canada box office soon?
By the end of this weekend, its total domestic "cume" so far should be up to around $72 million domestic (assuming the weekend estimate holds). The estimate for its third weekend is $7 million which would be a 43.3% drop from last weekend, so Alita has modest "legs" in America, though it's clearly a much bigger hit overseas (as most people guessed it would be). |
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Alestal
Posts: 605 Location: Dallas, Texas |
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That's fair. When you see a movie like this I do agree that the quality of the CG should be considered when evaluating it's entertainment value. That was impressive to me, even in a regular screening. I just really think the pacing, dialogue, and acting were way too off base. I preferred the live-action adaptation of Ghost in the Shell over this movie (gasp) and expected much much more from the director. |
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