Sneak peek of Robert Rodriguez’ ‘Alita: Battle Angel’ boasts of amazing VFX

Recently a special sneak peek premiere of Robert Rodriguez’ Alita: Battle Angel was organised in Delhi. The 30 minute presentation was essentially meant to provide a sneak peek into the cutting edge visual effects of the upcoming cyberpunk action film based on Yukito Kishiro's manga (comic book) Battle Angel Alita, which is popular in Japan by the name of Gunnm.

The presentation began with the legendary director of Titanic and Avatar, James Cameron talking about his fascination for the story of Alita and how he has been working on it for about a decade. He also shared that owing to his deep involvement in the Avatar sequels he eventually decided to hand over the project to Robert Rodriguez, director of films like Sin City and Machete.

Rodriguez revealed that the special sneak peak of Alita: Battle Angel endeavors to serve as an introduction to the film, its world and characters, long before it releases theatrically the world over.

Ido who is a denizen of the Iron City is committed to protecting Alita from the evil forces ruling over the city. Also he tries to hide her past fearing it might trigger some bad memories. But Alita soon begins to learn about the harsh realities of her old existence. As Alita tries to unlock the secrets about her dark past certain truths are revealed to her that not only shake her present but also change the course of her future forever, even as she shares a tender relationship with Hugo—a street smart guy who becomes her greatest support in her quest to find the true purpose of her existence.

There is no denying that Alita: Battle Angel employs some of the best CGI and VFX on offer. The death defying action sequences depicted in the film look way more effective than anything that we have seen so far in cinema. Often the 3D projection doesn’t make much of a difference to the visuals on offer. But that’s certainly not true of Alita. It is one of those visual treats that are best watched in 3D that too when projected on the biggest IMAX screen possible.

The technological advancements in cinema are fast changing the way we approach visual storytelling. Today cinema is vying with the likes of Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) for supremacy over the visual medium. Also, it is facing stiff competition because of the rise of OTT platforms. For cinema to continue to exist it is important that it produces enough big event films that can draw the audiences to the theatres, above everything else, through their visual appeal. That’s precisely why we need spectacles like Alita.

Alita: Battle Angel will be released in India on 8 February 2019, a week before it gets released in the US. The film also has an interesting ensemble cast. While Rosa Salazar has voiced Alita's character, the film also stars Christoph Waltz, Mahershala Ali, Keean Johnson, Jennifer Connelly, Jackie Earle Haley and Ed Skrein.