Movie · 2019 · Action, Science Fiction, Adventure · 2h 2m · PG-13 · English
Curator score: 2.8/10 (750.3K ratings)
An angel falls. A warrior rises.
Overview
When Alita awakens with no memory of who she is in a future world she does not recognize, she is taken in by Ido, a compassionate doctor who realizes that somewhere in this abandoned cyborg shell is the heart and soul of a young woman with an extraordinary past.
Ratings
Curator score: 2.8/10
IMDb: 7.3/10
Letterboxd: 3.21/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 61%
Metacritic: 53
TMDB: 7.2/10
Director
Robert Rodriguez
Production
Troublemaker Studios, Lightstorm Entertainment, 20th Century Fox, TSG Entertainment
Cast
Rosa Salazar, Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, Mahershala Ali, Ed Skrein, Jackie Earle Haley, Keean Johnson, Lana Condor, Jorge Lendeborg Jr., Eiza González, Jeff Fahey, Idara Victor, Rick Yune, Derek Mears, Leonard Wu, Racer Rodriguez, Marko Zaror, Hugo Perez, Casper Van Dien, Billy Blair
Where to watch
fuboTV
Curator Review
Verdict
A visually ambitious cyberpunk action movie with strong worldbuilding, fluid fight choreography, and a surprisingly resonant interest in identity and embodiment. It’s held back by blunt dialogue, uneven tone, and a story that feels more like a setup than a complete payoff.
Best for
Viewers who want glossy sci-fi spectacle and inventive action
Fans of cyborg, body-identity, and transhumanist themes
Audiences open to YA-style dystopian adventure with anime influence
People who value production design and motion-capture performance over script polish
Skip if
You need sharp writing and fully satisfying character arcs
You dislike stylized digital faces or heavy CGI character work
You want a tightly self-contained story rather than sequel-bait
You prefer grounded sci-fi over comic-book melodrama
Overview
Alita: Battle Angel is one of those big studio sci-fi projects that feels more interesting than its reputation suggests. The movie’s real strengths are visual and tactile: the scrapyard textures, the cybernetic bodies, the motorball sequences, and the sense of a lived-in future that has been scavenged and rebuilt after collapse. It’s easy to see why some viewers latch onto it as a cult favorite in the making.
Worth noting
The film is also unusually preoccupied with identity, bodily autonomy, and the relationship between selfhood and the shell you inhabit. That gives it more emotional and thematic weight than the standard YA-dystopia template, even when the dialogue is clunky or the plotting rushes through major turns. Rosa Salazar’s performance helps anchor the whole thing, and the movie is at its best when it lets her curiosity and determination carry the story.
Bottom line
Still, this is a messy blockbuster. The script is broad, the villainy is thin, and the movie often feels like it’s building toward a larger saga that never arrives. If you’re here for immaculate storytelling, it will frustrate you. If you’re here for kinetic action, elaborate world design, and a sincere if awkwardly packaged cyberpunk fantasy, it’s worth the ride.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Patrick Willems (3.5★) · 2982 likes
I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of limbs that get cut off in this movie.
mia lee vicino (3★) · 2309 likes
the twist that the antagonist was secretly edward norton all along is soooo 1999 🙄
davidehrlich (2★) · 1772 likes
one thing I learned from ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL is that human skin faces stretched over giant robot bodies are literally my least favorite thing in the world.
karen h. (4★) · 1711 likes
i’m sorry but hell yeah
YI JIAN (4★) · 1100 likes
I was higher than I intended to be when I watched this and I feel like I've met face-to-face with God.