Top 10 Alita Battle Angel Moments
#10: Two Tanjis Are Better Than One
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“Alita” received a PG-13 rating from the MPAA, but that doesn’t stop Robert Rodriguez from working in his trademark over-the-top violence. Tanji in particular receives one of the most brutal deaths we’ve seen in a non-R-rated movie. A scrap dealer who doesn’t always see eye to eye with his friend Hugo, Tanji might’ve been lacking in a moral code, but he was a saint compared to Zapan. Not long after being humiliated by Alita, Zapan sets out to frame Hugo for murder and claim the bounty on his head. Of course, revenge is its own reward for this sadistic cyborg. When Tanji gets caught in the middle, Zapan cuts him in half with his Damascus blade and leaves the audience feeling torn apart as well.
#9: Zapan Face-Off
As disturbing as Tanji’s death was, Zapan’s fate is perhaps even more graphic, with or without any blood or gore. You know the phrase, “use your head?” Well, Dr. Chiren takes it literally when Hugo is knocking on death’s door, hooking his severed head up to Alita’s heart. Alita tries to pull a fast one on Zapan by showing him Hugo’s head, but he can see that he’s not quite dead yet. Nevertheless, Alita remains a step ahead of Zapan, as she’s already claimed the bounty on Hugo. So, when Zapan inadvertently breaks Factory law, Alita is given jurisdiction to slice his face off in a moment that’s equally satisfying and badass. Adding to the poetic justice, she uses the same blade Zapan killed Tanji with.
#8: Vector’s Death
Although Alita and the villainous Vector don’t share many scenes together, the film still manages to build up a compelling rivalry and that’s mainly because of how different these characters are. Alita is a livewire who refuses to remain under anyone’s thumb and Vector is a composed manipulator who seeks control above all else. Alita may be a cyborg, but Vector ultimately ends up being another cog in a much bigger machine. Storming the factory and taking down all of his lackeys, Alita uses Vector to communicate to Nova, who’s the true mastermind. When Nova threatens her loved ones, Alita shows that she means business as well. Following a final stab from Alita, Vector goes down like a puppet that’s been stripped of its strings.
#7: Nova Revealed
An all-seeing eye who looks down on Iron City from the haven of Zalem up above, Nova’s presence is always felt, although he’s kept concealed from the audience until the very end. Alita has become a champion of the Motorball arena, but she has even higher aspirations in the wake of Hugo’s demise. In so few words, Alita raises her blade towards the city in the sky, letting Nova know that she’s coming for him. Closing out, the filmmakers drop the movie’s greatest bombshell: Nova is played by Edward Norton! Between the stern, determined look on Alita’s face and the smirking, devilish expression on Nova’s, we couldn’t be more eager to see these two go head to head. Can we get a sequel green-lit already?
#6: Alita Awakens
Alita brings a literal meaning to the term, “wide-eyed optimism,” when Dr. Dyson Ido awakens her. With no memories of her past, she approaches everything as if she’s experiencing it for the first time. When Alita steps out into the high-tech world, the audience is essentially exploring the area through those big eyes of hers. The Iron City itself is a marvel of production design, looking like a futuristic metropolis if it were entirely constructed from scraps. Since Alita is new to this world, she’s almost naively stomped over by a mounting robot, leading to her introduction to Hugo. As Alita swoops in to protect a dog from the machine, though, Hugo finds that this cyborg has natural instincts.
#5: Ido Finds Alita
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While “Alita” is an action picture at its core, the film takes its time establishing mood and atmosphere without relying heavily on dialogue. As the film opens in the year 2563, Ido rummages through a towering pile of discarded junk. Although he’s only looking for spare parts, he finds something that will make him feel whole again: a mutilated cyborg that lacks a proper body, but still has a functioning brain. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure and Ido sees the potential for a second chance looking into the cyborg’s expressive eyes. Back at Ido’s lab, the cyborg inherits the body he constructed for his late daughter, as well as her name, Alita.
#4: A Battle Angel Awakens
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Tracking Ido one evening, Alita learns that her father figure isn’t merely a doctor, but also a Hunter-Warrior. Likewise, Ido discovers that his surrogate daughter is no ordinary cyborg. Confronted by a trio of wanted cyborgs, Alita has no trouble smashing in Romo with her bare fists. Nyssiana puts up more of fight with her creepy-crawly, spiderlike body, but Alita manages to finish her off as she displays the full extent of her martial arts skills. Although ringleader Grewishka is more hulking in size, Alita demonstrates that deadly things can come in small packages, shredding off his arm and forcing the brute to retreat. The fight choreography is wickedly inventive and the cyborg designs make the original manga leap off the pages into the third dimension.
#3: Thank You for Saving Me
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When Hugo first meets Alita, he’s something of a lost soul. Ironically, it isn’t until after he falls in love with Alita and gains a cyborg body that Hugo discovers his true humanity. While Alita saves Hugo in more ways than one, she isn’t able to prevent his ultimate downfall. All Hugo has ever dreamed of is rising above Iron City and just when it seems like his dream may become a reality, Vector stabs him in the back. Hugo is thus driven to climb to Zalem himself via cargo tube, which Alita knows is suicide. Despite her pleas, Alita can’t prevent Zalem’s defense system from slicing Hugo into pieces. What’s left of him is only able to bid a tearful farewell before letting go.
#2: Alita vs. Grewishka
Just as he brought a graphic novel to life in “Sin City,” Robert Rodriguez’s visionary direction helped turn “Alita: Battle Angel” into a live-action anime. Nowhere is this better exemplified than through Alita’s multiple showdowns with Grewishka. Following a bombastic bar brawl against Zapan and several other bounty hunters, Grewishka drops in with a few upgrades. Like John Wick, Alita is more determined than ever to crush Grewishka after he slays a defenseless dog. Crashing into the underworld together, Grewishka cuts Alita into several pieces, but that doesn’t stop her from delivering the final blow and an applause-worthy f-bomb. By the time these two cross paths again for Round 3, Alita has picked up some upgrades herself, finally sending Grewishka to meet his maker.
#1: Motorball
Motorball is one of the most imaginative fictional sports we’ve ever seen on the silver screen, playing out like a roller derby meets a battle royal. When Hugo introduces Alita to Motorball, it’s the equivalent of kids playing street hockey. Once Alita enters an actual race, it’s a gladiator match on wheels that’s only intensified by the fact that Vector has rigged the system. Once Alita realizes that her competitors have been ordered to destroy her, survival becomes the new name of the game. One by one, Alita demolishes the cyborgs on her tail in explosive fashion, eventually taking the game out of the area and onto the streets. Motorball evolves the concept of “robot fights” to the next level, sending audiences to cyberpunk heaven.
