What a wonderful character! Alita is so beautifully and magically brought to life by artists, animators, writers, and Rosa Salazar (who acts her to perfection). It's a bit of a shame that the movie unraveling all around her couldn't quite match that splendor. Too much of the time, I felt like I was waiting to be swept away and I never quite was – well, save for once or twice. Aside from those absolutely wonderful 5 or 10 minutes of movie magic connection, I just felt like the production was more concerned about setting up the next action sequence (and there are many) than an emotional connection with its audience.

While the story is curious enough, the production packs too much of it (along with a lot of action) into this installment. It's apparently a series, so why not take some time to really enjoy (in a literary way) these interesting characters and relationships. Ido's wife is a strong example of a character ripe and ready to have more and richer nuanced drama. Sadly, they paint her black and white. I say, cut this film into two installments and give as loving and lavish attention to the character arcs as given to the splendid action choreography. Btw, those slow-motion twisting-through-air moments are wonderful – I would have loved them to have done that metaphorically on the emotive level!

Alita is alive in a cardboard character world. Ido breaks though at times, but the writers (or the editors) hold him back. I would have also liked to see interactions with regular people. Without the working Joes and Janes of this future, I feel left out of this world that filmmakers have recreated so carefully.

That said, preteens will likely love this film. I certainly would have loved it at that age. Despite this mixed review, I must admit I appreciated the light, confident way it made me feel afterwards.

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