‘Alita: Battle Angel’ Trailer Dropped and Will Decide If I Can Trust James Cameron Again

On my top-5 list of most-anticipated films of 2018 the number 1 slot is taken, with numbers 2 through 5 still settling, shifting, waiting for the taking. One of those slots now includes Alita: Battle Angel, a film that — if there is a god who loves me — will bring redemption to the sci-fi world after James Cameron’s record-grossing white-savior-in-space-Africa catastrophe, Avatar. And yes, though we have much reason to be skeptical, today I’m granting myself the gift of hope, because this could be good. Heavy emphasis on could be. Off jump, tell me the creative decision behind the anime eyes. As a distinctive characteristic to separate humans and cyborgs, you would think anime eyes would be on the list of things to avoid, yet here we are and I’m asking “how did we get here” to the tune of Deborah Cox because I need to know the answer as much as everyone needs to remember that song. In this, the year of Ghost In the Shell (I apologize for reminding you of this film’s existence and that it was, in fact, this year), it’s a bold decision to include cybernetic arms and anime eyes in a film opposite Jennifer Connelly and Christoph Waltz, but I need optimism for 2018 like you wouldn’t believe. Remember when we thought 2016 was a trash fire? 2017 was waiting around the corner with Neo Yokio, Transformers: The Last Knight and two Matt Damon movies. This can be good. [looks in the mirror, takes deep breath] This can be good.

“This is just a body. It’s not bad or good. That part’s u…