The Best Live-Action Anime Film Is On Hulu
Any anime fan can tell you that live-action adaptations are very hit or miss. For every One Piece TV show, you’re likely to get something like that insane Dragonball Evolution movie with James Marsters. If you’re sick of the crap and ready to experience how perfect live-action anime can be, here’s good news: all you have to do is stream Alita: Battle Angel on Hulu.
Alita: Battle Angel’s Ambitious Premise
The premise of Alita: Battle Angel is that a scientist in a dystopian future puts the brain of a damaged cyborg, raising her as his daughter. Their relationship and even their lives are put in danger by a plot that involves a dangerous sport, and cyborg battles. Ultimately, the most dangerous threat may be the specter of love and one girl’s relentless pursuit of both sympathy and understanding.
Epic Personnel Behind The Epic Feature
One reason that Alita: Battle Angel is such a great live-action anime adaptation is that it has some immense talent behind the camera. It is directed by Robert Rodriguez, a virtuoso director with a talent for creating off-kilter fictional universes in movies such as From Dusk till Dawn and Sin City. Furthermore, the movie is co-written and co-produced by James Cameron, someone with a proven track record of transforming intimate tales of artificial life into thrilling blockbuster epics.
The talent in front of the camera for Alita: Battle Angel is just as talented, including Rosa Salazar in the title role. The inimitable Christopher Waltz plays her adoptive father and Jennifer Connelly plays that man’s ex. The supporting cast is full of epic character actors, including Mahershala Ali, Casper Van Dien, Jackie Earle Haley, and many more.
A Valid Dystopian Sci-Fi Entry
When Alita: Battle Angel came out, it was a decent box office success. Its budget was somewhere between $150-$200 million, and it went on to earn a cool $405 million. The movie never got a follow-up (unlike other Cameron properties like Avatar and Terminator), but it managed to impress both general audiences and fans of the original manga and anime.
Speaking of audiences, this movie notably has a 91 percent audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The movie has a lower but still “fresh” critical score of 61 percent. Critics generally noted that the story was much simpler than the effects but that it would definitely appeal to fans who love sci-fi action in a futuristic setting.
A Story About Family And Identity
As one such fan, I can agree that Alita: Battle Angel managed to seriously win me over. I expected an empty effects extravaganza but found a deeply affecting story about family dynamics and identity. The thrilling action scenes keep the movie lively, delivering a perfect pace for an emotional roller coaster that will make you experience all the feelings from scene to scene.
Streaming Alita: Battle Angel On Hulu
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Will you agree with my admittedly bold claim that this is the best live-action anime adaptation ever made or will you want to swap it for a cyborg brain you found at the local thrift store? You won’t know until you stream Alita: Battle Angel on Hulu. Once you do, you may discover just how revolutionary live-action anime can be in the hands of the right creators.
