Alita: Battle Angel

Alita: Battle Angel is a 2019 American cyberpunk action film based on Japanese manga artist Yukito Kishiro's 1990s series *Gunnm* and its 1993 original video animation adaptation *Battle Angel*. It was directed by Robert Rodriguez and produced by James Cameron, who co-wrote the script with Laeta Kalogridis. Rosa Salazar stars through performance-capture animation as Alita, a cyborg who awakens in a new body with no memory of her past and sets out to uncover her destiny. Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, Mahershala Ali, Ed Skrein, Jackie Earle Haley, and Keean Johnson star in supporting roles.

## Plot

In 2563, 300 years after Earth was devastated by a catastrophic war known as "The Fall", scientist Dr. Dyson Ido discovers a disembodied female cyborg with an intact human brain while scavenging for parts in the massive scrapyard of Iron City. Ido attaches a new cyborg body to the brain and names her "Alita" after his deceased daughter. Alita awakens with no memory of her past and quickly befriends Hugo, a young man who dreams of moving to the wealthy sky city of Zalem. She also meets Dr. Chiren, Ido's estranged ex-wife. Hugo later introduces Alita to Motorball, a racing sport played by cyborg gladiators. Secretly, Hugo robs cyborgs of their parts for Vector, owner of the Motorball tournament and the 'de facto' ruler of the Factory, Iron City's governing authority.

One night, Alita follows Ido; they are ambushed by a gang of cyborg serial killers led by Grewishka. Ido is injured, and Alita instinctively fights using "Panzer Kunst", a lost combat art for machine bodies. She kills two of the cyborgs and damages Grewishka, who retreats. Ido reveals that he is a Hunter-Warrior- a bounty hunter hired by the Factory. Grewishka goes to Dr. Chiren- who is working for Vector- for help. Despite Alita believing that fighting will help her rediscover her past, Ido discourages her from becoming a Hunter-Warrior. Alita finds a highly advanced cyborg body in a crashed spaceship outside the city. Recognizing that the body belonged to a Berserker — deadly shock troops of the enemy nation United Republics of Mars (URM) from the Fall, of which Alita was a member—Ido refuses to install Alita in it.

Frustrated with Ido, Alita registers herself as a Hunter-Warrior. At the Kansas Bar, she and Hugo are unable to recruit other Hunter-Warriors to help her take down Grewishka. Zapan, a cyborg Hunter-Warrior bully, provokes Alita, and she severely beats him in a fight, triggering a chaotic bar brawl until Ido arrives to intervene. Suddenly an upgraded Grewishka appears and challenges Alita to a duel, revealing that he has been sent by Zalem's technocrat overlord, Nova, to destroy her. Despite her combat skills, Alita's body is damaged by Grewishka, before Ido, Hugo and Hunter-Warrior dogmaster McTeague arrive and force Grewishka to retreat. Ido apologizes and transplants Alita into the Berserker body.

Having fallen in love with Hugo, Alita enters a Motorball tryout race for the prize money to send Hugo to Zalem. Hugo's relationship with Alita leads him to decide to quit his criminal job. He confronts his partner Tanji, but Zapan appears, kills Tanji and frames Hugo for the murder of another cyborg. Hugo narrowly escapes and calls Alita for help; she abandons the race and finds him just as Zapan does. Zapan mortally wounds Hugo. Dr. Chiren, having changed her mind about working for Vector, offers to help save Hugo by attaching his severed head to Alita's life support system. When Zapan sees through the trick and attempts to stop Alita, she seizes his prized Damascus blade and injures him.

Ido transplants Hugo's head onto a cyborg body and tells Alita that Vector's offer to help Hugo reach Zalem was a lie; as an exiled citizen of Zalem, Ido is certain that citizens of Iron City cannot enter Zalem without becoming a motorball champion. Alita storms the Factory and confronts Vector, who reveals that Chiren has been harvested for her organs. Vector summons Grewishka, but Alita's new nanotech body allows her to easily destroy him. She forces Nova to speak to her through Vector. When Nova threatens to harm her friends, Alita fatally stabs Vector.

Ido tells Alita that Hugo has fled to climb a cargo tube towards Zalem. Alita catches up to him and pleads with him to return with her. He eventually agrees, but a serrated defense ring dropped by Nova shreds his body and throws him off the tube. Alita catches him but cannot pull him up. Hugo thanks Alita for saving him before falling to his death.

Months later, Alita is a rising superstar in the Motorball tournament. Cheered on by the crowd, she pledges vengeance by pointing her plasma-charged sword toward Zalem, where Nova watches from above, smirking.

## Cast

* Rosa Salazar as Alita, a revived female cyborg suffering from amnesia.
* Christoph Waltz as Dr. Dyson Ido, a renowned cyborg scientist, part-time bounty hunter and Alita's father figure.
* Jennifer Connelly as Dr. Chiren, Ido's estranged ex-wife, a master cyborg engineer who works for Vector.[6]
* Mahershala Ali as Vector,[7] an influential Factory entrepreneur with criminal connections who also serves as Nova's proxy.
* Ed Skrein as Zapan, an arrogant sword-wielding cyborg bounty hunter who develops an egotistic vendetta against Alita.
* Jackie Earle Haley as Grewishka, a huge cyborg criminal who works for Nova as his personal assassin and enforcer.[8][9]
* Keean Johnson as Hugo, Alita's love interest and a morally conflicted scrap dealer.
* Lana Condor as Koyomi, a teenager who is friends with Hugo and Tanji.
* Jorge Lendeborg Jr. as Tanji, Hugo's scrap dealer friend and accomplice in crime who is more underhanded and does not share Hugo's ethics.
* Eiza González as Nyssiana, a wanted criminal cyborg assassin and Grewishka's subordinate.
* Jeff Fahey as McTeague, a Hunter-Warrior who leads a pack of cyborg dogs.
* Idara Victor as Nurse Gerhad, Ido's assistant.
* Rick Yune as Master Clive Lee, a Hunter-Warrior who claims a record of 207 kills.