After decades of pushback, a change in directors and five months of shooting, James Cameron finally released his long-awaited “Alita: Battle Angel.” Despite initial skepticism, the film proved to be more than just another sci-fi action movie.

“Alita: Battle Angel” was produced and written by James Cameron and Jon Landau and directed by Robert Rodriguez. The film has a star-studded cast, featuring Rosa Salazar as Alita, Jennifer Connelly, Mahershala Ali and two-time Oscar recipient Christoph Waltz. Even though 2019’s film ambit is still small, Salazar’s performance may be one of the best of the year. Every scene of Salazar’s is rich with her charm, charisma and her ability to completely transform into her character. It’s easy to get lost in Cameron’s world, because of Salazar’s amazing performance.

Something that initially made people skeptical was the main character’s abnormally large eyes, something that can be related to the style of anime and manga. And as weird as it may sound to some, Alita’s large eyes do not in any way shape or form negatively affect the movie. As a matter of fact, Alita’s character design is part of what positively differentiates this movie from other sci-fi action flicks. The work done by the production team and Weta Digital definitely paid off in the end. Despite what some may think, Alita wasn’t a completely CG character. Rather, the film utilized state of the art performance capture technology to digitally render Salazar’s every move, facial expression and subtle nuances to create the stunning and believable character. The result of what I can only assume was countless hours of hard work is now one of the greatest achievements in cinematic history.

“Alita: Battle Angel” offers an incredibly unique story with an even more unique origin. The film was based on the 1990 Manga series “Gunnm” (also known as “Battle Angel Alita”) which was written by manga artist Yukito Kishiro. Set in the 26th century, Dyson Ido, a cyber-doctor, finds what is left of Alita in a scrapyard. He takes her to his clinic and repairs her until she is conscious. Alita awakens with no memory of her past life or the dangerous world she finds herself living in. She tries to find her way through the streets of Iron City with the help of Ido while also attempting to uncover her past. Skeptical about her previous life, however, Ido tries to shield Alita from becoming what she once was.

This is the kind of story that makes an audience forget about reality. The movie establishes its brilliant and distinctive world right off the bat, showing a fantastic view of Iron City and the floating world of Zalem. It is incredible how quickly and effectively the film sets its tone, not relying on narrative exposition or long, on-screen paragraphs. The audience sees the world and discovers its complexities just as Alita does. One of the best parts of this movie is its incredible action scenes, the best of which take place during the Motor Ball sequences, a fictional sport that plays a significant role in the story. Each action sequence is intricate, fast-paced and an overall joy to behold.

Despite its 94 percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, critics are not as impressed as the general public seems to be. According to most critic reviews, the movie is “thin” and fails to offer a good story. I personally disagree with people who gave the film a low score based off of its story. Granted, the story was, at times, cliche and a little trite, but it was nothing bad enough to tank the movie. As a matter of fact, the cliche moments worked. It made the film more light-hearted and enjoyable to watch which offered to be a great contrast from its more serious and thought-provoking themes. And what really sets this film apart from other action movies is that it really has heart. It has a story and a world that you can really get lost in and care about. It doesn’t have to be taken very seriously by every person who sees the film, but everybody can still find something to relate to and identify with. Yes, it is an action movie, but it’s also so much more.

Another great part of the story is that it has a strong female lead. In the beginning, it seemed like it may go in a typical “young girl seeking the help of an attractive guy” direction, but Alita quickly establishes herself as a strong independent woman who doesn’t need all of the guidance given to her by the men in her life. Seeing a movie like this is incredibly refreshing, given that it doesn’t rely on stereotypical gender-specific roles.

If you have yet to see this movie I highly suggest you see it as soon as possible. The amazing acting, unique story, groundbreaking visuals, and insane action sequences make for a truly magical, beautiful and exciting film. Some people may be turned off by the fact that the movie was adapted from manga, but I guarantee that anybody who gives it a chance will be pleasantly surprised. In short, this cyberpunk, action-packed movie has many great things going for it and deserves to been seen. It seems unnecessary to judge its overall greatness by measuring it with stars or some sort of confusing percentage. So let’s just say this: “Alita: Battle Angel” is a fantastic piece of art and a great achievement in the movie industry.