The Reel Rejects - ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL (2019) MOVIE REVIEW!! FIRST TIME WATCHING!!

Starting point is 00:00:00 Introducing the new Volvo XC90 with seven-seat versatility, Google built-in, and advanced safety features for all your precious cargo. The new Volvo XC90, designed for life. Visit volvocars.com slash us to learn more. At Sierra, discover great deals on top brand workout gear, like high-quality walking shoes, which might lead to another discovery. 40,000 steps, baby. Who's on top now, Karen?

Starting point is 00:00:26 You've taken the office step challenge, a step too far. Don't worry, though. Sierra also has yoga gear. It might be a good place to find your zen. Discover top brands at unexpectedly low prices. Sierra, let's get moving. This episode is brought to you by State Farm. Knowing you could be saving money for the things you really want, like that dream house or ride, is a great feeling.

Starting point is 00:00:50 That's why the State Farm Personal Price Plan can help you save when you choose to bundle home and auto. Bundling. Just another way to save with a personal price plan. prices are based on rating plans that vary by state coverage options are selected by the customer availability amount of discounts and savings and eligibility vary by state

Starting point is 00:01:07 do you have final thoughts before we get into Elita Battle Angel yes I do I want to know when the sequel is coming out but I'm probably going to want to know that more after we see the film all right we'll talk about it then see you guys on the other side That was fun. Is it like a post credit?

Starting point is 00:01:34 Maybe we should just leave it. Mr. Cameron. Good job, Mr. Cameron. I understand why the people have been clamoring for a sequel to this. Like there's so many things that we need to discuss. We need to break down this whole movie that was absolutely phenomenal. Before we do that, a couple of things from you guys at home. Por favor.

Starting point is 00:01:55 Don't forget to go check out our social media at The Real Reject. at Real Rejects. We are on everywhere, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok.

Starting point is 00:02:06 Jackie Early Haley. Who is Jackie Early? That's, was he Grewishka? I don't know. Lana Condor. God damn it.

Starting point is 00:02:14 That's who that was. Lana Condor. Am I an idiot? No. Don't talk that way about yourself. Obviously that was fucking Lana Condor.

Starting point is 00:02:23 Am I kidding? Am I kidding? A lot of Condor is like the It Girl right now. Is that like one of those That was the like really cute Asian girl That I kept being like I know her from a TV show That was fucking a lot of Condor You're kidding me

Starting point is 00:02:40 She came up like a... Yeah, Grewishka was Jackie Earl Haley That was Freddie Kruger in the reboot Nightmare and Elmstree that you guys thought was the fifth one What was it that we were, who was it that we were trying to? Okay, we'll look everything up But also if you're on Apple, Spotify, don't forget five stars We really appreciate that.

Starting point is 00:02:58 Leave a comment. We read your reviews over there as well. And rejectnation shop.com. That is where you can get your cool swag. I'm a little partial to the Cult of Sheeject's merch, but whatever merch you get is appreciated. Even the soundtrack to this, man. It's fire.

Starting point is 00:03:16 That was really, really good. Okay. So that was two hours of action-packed awesomeness of Alita Battle Angel. We know that this came out in 2019. We know that we haven't had a sequel to this day. Clearly, they thought they were going to get one. How does this movie ending feel you leaving? I want more.

Starting point is 00:03:38 I'm saying. Yeah, I really want to see a sequel badly. I loved, again, I don't know the anime that it originated from. I'm not familiar with it, but just coming in as a noob. I really enjoyed the storyline. I'm a sucker for a fish out of water, self, you know, self-fulfillment or rather, you know, just rediscovering yourself type of story. I love those storylines when they're executed properly.

Starting point is 00:04:03 Which is wise. Yeah, which I felt this was as well. And I loved all the performances. I loved the visuals in this. It was so awesome. And I think James Cameron is one of the, I know it said he did the screenplay or was written by, I think he's one of the all-time best when it comes to writing badass female characters from Sarah Connor to Ellen Ripley, now to Alita.

Starting point is 00:04:26 He just understands, you know, what makes female characters so special. And I think right away, even though visually you see this character as a cyborg, you could immediately relate to how human she was. And the big doe eyes, like the design of her was it was hard to not relate. Right, right. But yeah, yeah, I just immediately, just completely, I love the emotional depth to the character. and I immediately also too fell in love with the interactions between her and Christoph Waltz and also great performance again by Christoph Waltz. I mean, I'm used to seeing him as these crazy villainous character.

Starting point is 00:05:03 That's why I think that I was like, is he bad? Do I trust him? Of course. Of course. I had that in the back of my mind too. But I liked seeing him for a change, do a different type of role. It was nice seeing the versatility because this man is so damn talented. So yeah, he was great.

Starting point is 00:05:17 And I also love that arc for her character as well, like accepting this man as a surrogate father and he was always so protected understandably so because he put her in his daughter's body and now like you know what i mean and he makes it out of this one so presumably he would be in the next one if there was when there is and there were some great arcs i thought in this film too uh you know when it came to hugo jennifer connelly's character yeah jennifer connolly had the most full like because i think they thought they were getting a sequel nobody else's arc was really complete but she because she ended up a brain and eyeballs she had a full story arc like she came back around and even we hear Christoph Wals say at some point like you know this place will

Starting point is 00:06:00 make good people do bad things and Jennifer Conley clearly is one of those people um wow I cannot believe I didn't recognize Lana Condor or I couldn't pull her name uh Kean Johnson is the guy who plays Hugo and where I knew him from was euphoria which I can't believe I also it's so hard when There's so many people, and I'm just like, I know this person. I know. There's so many faces. I'm like, what? But, yeah, he's on euphoria. I knew that he was on some kind of show of mine.

Starting point is 00:06:25 What about solemn? Is that, or not? But the girl that played the nurse that I also kept recognizing, she is on the show called Minks that I love, which is how I knew her. And she was also in a little arc of shameless, which is another show that I absolutely love. Shameless. I did watch a few seasons of that one. You did.

Starting point is 00:06:45 Proud of you. You're like, you watch TV. This is a lie. Proud of you. I know. The girl who plays Alita is Rosa Salazar. That's where he's fun. She's from the Maze Runner movies.

Starting point is 00:06:58 The guy who played the one, my face. That was A. Jackson, Deadpool 1. Oh. The main bad guy. I was like, I knew he looked so familiar. I couldn't recognize him with the way he looked. It was really hard to pull people. That was Casper Van Dien, by the way.

Starting point is 00:07:13 Yeah. By the way, Casper Van Dien, one of the nicest human beings. There was a show called Titan. It never became anything. But I was on set one day because we knew an electric guy who was working in the electrical department. He brought me and his son on set. I was only like 12 at the time. Caspar Vandy and saw me and the other kid.

Starting point is 00:07:29 Long story short, he saw me and the other kid there. And he came over, was talking to us for like 10, 15 minutes when he was supposed to be filming. And he was just super sweet and super nice, just a very nice human being. I have to say I honestly feel the exact same way. I've met him several times and his lovely wife. he is a doll, like really truly one of those people who you understand why he's been working so long. We also were in a movie together called Madness and the Method, which is how I initially met him. Sweet.

Starting point is 00:07:58 Okay, so, whoa, man. Okay, let's talk about just the character of Alita for a second. Let's just go over Alita because, like, you were talking about, she was easy to relate to, but I, and we will look this up in trivia, but she was so fascinating to watch. Absolutely. And I just can't even get over how they manage. to do that. Yeah, I agree. And also, too, I loved how

Starting point is 00:08:21 not only relatable, but I loved how selfless she was, how compassionate she was, how much she cared, almost like she cared about others more than she gave a damn about herself. She was trying to give him the heart. But then he wasn't willing to take it and those are the kind of people you want to give your heart too.

Starting point is 00:08:35 For sure. And also, too, like, she's willing to become a motor, motorball, right? Motorball? Yeah. She wanted to become a motorball player so that he could go up to Zon. Like, I love you. And now she wants to go up to avenge him.

Starting point is 00:08:46 And then also, too, when the poor dog, oh, my God, like, she put the blood on her face and then wanted to avenge the dog. Like, I love her so much. Like, this is. Is there a world in which Hugo survived the way she survived? Oh, because she did fall down. That's a great question. That's a very good question. I hope.

Starting point is 00:09:09 I mean, we saw at the end. He doesn't have the heart she does. Right. Right. But just in case. Yeah. See, I don't know the anime. so I mean that we'd we'd have to leave it to our audience to let us know but clearly came from lore

Starting point is 00:09:21 I love when things you can tell they're adapted from source material because they're so well done and you're like this would have taken so long to come up with this concept and the world felt so lived in and these characters felt so real for this world wow man who's your favorite character that's a great question uh i got i mean i know it's the generic answer elita i just i loved her so much and this she's such a badass again i loved how selfless she was i love the hand-to-hand combat when she and i love the the protective mode that she always was in whether it came to christoph waltz hugo just to uh the dog um even though i'd talk but just in general i i love that selflessness like that's something like how i feel like i'm the type of human being where uh i would give

Starting point is 00:10:11 my life to save others. Like, that's just how I am, and that's who I can relate to the most. And I loved all her interactions. Her relationship with Hugo was just a big part. And again, that's something, again, also James Cameron really thrives in, like Terminator. Yes, it is a sci-fi film, but it's a romance as well. Yes. You know, a romance across time, Titanic. I think that's, I mean, yeah, it's about a doom ship, but it's about, you know, the romance between Jack and Rose. Rose. So, yeah, he really understands how to, and also, obviously, obviously an avatar as well, with Terry and Jake. So he just understands how to do romance very well.

Starting point is 00:10:47 And I really felt it again in this. I mean, it was unfortunately favorite character because of the romance part of it. That was just part of it. It was part of the equation for sure. But there were just a number of different factors. But who would you say was your favorite character? I honestly, I mean, it's got, of course, Alita. But after that, I did say it's probably Sharon because.

Starting point is 00:11:08 She was incredible. But I think that the thing that I really love to is the full story arc where she says, I'm a mother. And I forgot that for a second because when your kid is taken from you, I'm sure you no longer feel like a mother. And but you are. It's part of you no matter what. And I just, I really think that she, you know, she got bitter for a second after her life. And then she really, remember, my favorite lines in every, any movie of all time. is in Lion King, remember who you are.

Starting point is 00:11:42 I think it is like one of the most powerful moments in cinematic history. And just those simple words, remember, remember who you are. If we could all practice that at our core because sometimes when you're in a bad place, the worst of you does come out. True. But we knew she had to have this good soul in there

Starting point is 00:12:03 because she was with Edo and they had a daughter. So clearly, you know, there is something great in there. So I love how she does remember who she is and saves this, not innocent completely, but saves this person who doesn't deserve to die as life. Yeah. And helps out the girl that is this warrior hero. And because of those choices, she dies. Yeah. And, uh, but her brain is still around, which would be really interesting in a sequel. Right. Yeah. And I mean, I don't know, maybe I'm misinterpreting this, but I think also, too, when she saw how selfless Alita was, maybe that reminded her of her daughter and just how she should behave to. At least that's how I saw that

Starting point is 00:12:47 in her body language and the way she was emoting in her face. And I'm like, I love acting like that when you can do that and not say a word and I can just read that off your face. And I just, that was incredible in her performance as well. And I could see the arc like happening right then and there in that moment. It was just a powerful scene. And also too, like, you. Yeah. have this whole reveal with Edward Norton at the end being Nova. I'm like, you can't not, you can't, I thought, I was like, I kept thinking it was Alan Ruck the whole time. Me too.

Starting point is 00:13:14 Me too. And then when you have the reveal, I'm like, we got to have a sequel. You got Edward Damn Norton here. You can't have Edward Norton for one damn scene here as you're going. We have so much to look up. Let's go in the trivia because I got it to get going very soon. In the next five minutes I got to go. Okay, so let me try to hit you with five minutes worth of trivia.

Starting point is 00:13:32 Here we go one more time. as I type it in and spell it wrong because I'm feeling so much pressure on me right now. Here we go now. All right. So let's see. This, that trivia is really long, but I'll try it. This marks the first professional collaboration

Starting point is 00:13:48 between James Cameron and Robert Rodriguez to do the prior commitments to direct the four sequels to Avatar. Cameron could only serve as producer and co-screenwriter on this film with Rodriguez taking the directorial duties. An interview with Empire Magazine on December 8th, 2017. Rodriguez said of the collaboration with Cameron, this just doesn't happen. Guys like Quentin Tarantino and Jim only writes scripts for themselves to direct. When Avatar becomes the biggest movie of all time, he told me that he's going to spend the rest of his career making avatars.

Starting point is 00:14:16 So I said, what happens to Battle Angel then? Because as a fan, I just was interested. And he said, I don't think I'll ever get to do that. Hey, if you figure out the script, you can shoot it. So I took it home, spent all summer working on it, cut it down to 130, 125 pages without cutting anything that he missed. It was a great gift. we had a blast anytime i had a question i would just call him or email him and he would send back these hugely detailed answers that were so helpful he just loves being the producer and he

Starting point is 00:14:42 always wants uh that he always wants the guy's just so freaking smart getting to learn from someone like that was the greatest internship ever yeah that must have been so much fun for rodriguez right and i remember too before like all the avatar stuff happened i remember for years hearing that he was going to that cam jim uh jim cameron wanted to direct uh alida and right and adapt alida so and when now Avatar like blew up and exploded. He was going to do a moment. I was like, okay, I guess Alita is never happening. The Manga series is titled Battle Angel Alita in 2010. Producer John Landau commented, I'm telling people that we have to call it Alita Battle Angel because Jim only does T&A movies. Most of James Cameron's movies begin with the letter A or T. Aliens,

Starting point is 00:15:22 the Terminator, the Abyss, Avatar, True Lies, and Titanic. Yeah. Rest in peace, John Lando just passed like a month or two ago. Wow. Even though the film is live action, the main character is done with CG animation and was shot in 3D using the stereo imaging system that James Cameron had been developing for his documentaries. Cool. Very cool. I mean, that sounds like anything I've ever seen. Yeah, I'm definitely at some point going to be watching some of the behind the scenes. Director of Robert Rodriguez based the second motorball sequence on NASCAR. Instead of Ariel and Impossible shots, he used the physics of real cameras and placement seen in NASCAR, includes long-lengths, his calms, capturing things whizzing by as well as cameras on the track with the players to keep it as real world as possible.

Starting point is 00:16:06 It was the longest sequence of the film that worked on about three years from start to finish. Jeez, I could see that. No, he did it off Padre. I'm just kidding. You really? I know. Just the intensity and just like how you do it.

Starting point is 00:16:19 You know what I mean? The sound design and all that. Just like, I don't know. Friday reported the movie had a budget $175 million and $200 million, which made the biggest budget that Robert Rodriguez has ever. ever had. Jeez. Does look like that.

Starting point is 00:16:31 A little bit more than Spy Kids. Tarantino recommended Christoph Waltz to director Robert Rodriguez. Tarantino directed Waltz to two Oscar wins and Gloria's Bastards

Starting point is 00:16:40 and Jingo and Change Unchained and he has a long-standing friendship with Collaborative Rodriguez this 90s. I was thinking that while there's so many more things

Starting point is 00:16:50 but I know we have to get you out of here. So we... If you got one or two more interesting ones you see? I mean, there's so many. There's like too many to pick. There's so many interesting

Starting point is 00:16:59 ones. Four actresses screen tested for the roles and Dea, Rosa Salazar, Micah Monroe, and Bella Thorne. Wow. I thought Rose Salazar did a fantastic. I mean, to be up with so many heavyweight actors, like she really held her own in my opinion. Yeah, I agree. Alita translates to Little Wing in Spanish. Not Little Flea? Oh my God.

Starting point is 00:17:19 Yikes. The opening sequence is similar to the opening sequence of Battle Angel in 1993. Many scenes from this movie are taken almost frame by frame from scenes from Battle Angel. Cool. Cool. Good stuff. Good stuff.

Starting point is 00:17:33 Sorry, leave you wanting more. Sorry, guys. Final thoughts. Let us know. I just, I really enjoyed it and I'm just, I really want to see a sequel and I was so bad. Like literally when it ended, I'm like, no, I want to see the next, I want to see how this continues. I'm with you.

Starting point is 00:17:47 The only things we didn't spend enough time on, the visuals in this, the soundtrack and scoring in this. Oh, the scores. Fantastic. We're absolutely unbelievable. And the script, I thought that the dialogue was so tight. There were so many beautiful lessons. and lines in this that just chef's kiss. Let us know what you guys

Starting point is 00:18:03 think in the comments. We'd love to read them. Keep the conversation with us going there. And we'll see you next time. Later, Rejects. It's time to pay a little bit of appreciation for some of our loveliest patrons this month. But here's what we should do. We need to start an internship program. There are way

Starting point is 00:18:19 too many excess jobs to be done here. So we're going to assign every one of these guys a new role at the real Rejects. They'll have to report to the office on Monday. So Wixzat 73, you will be easily the head of the Department of Cryptozoology because I don't even know what secret alchemy

Starting point is 00:18:37 your name is, so you're probably a master of the mysticisms. Joe Smith, I'm giving you John's job. Oh, good. Yep. Well, it seems rendered useless now. I look forward to seeing your videos. Alicia Rosales, hey, you are going to be in charge of

Starting point is 00:18:54 changing the color temperature on all the lights. You're the grip now. You're the gaffer. Star Duss and Madness. You're in charge of coming up with the first line of the description box. We pay $20 an hour. Oh, good. Yes, excellent.

Starting point is 00:19:07 Matthew Arms, listen, you're going to be the person anxiously trying to figure out which one of our very similar faces goes into which thumbnail next. Jack Forrest, you're the one who flushes the toilet after Aaron uses it. Hey, Kevin Meek. You're the one who flushes the toilet after Andrew Gordon uses it. Navdeep Sidhu. you are the person in charge of creating thumbnails. Excellent.

Starting point is 00:19:33 Good. We got a couple people for that. You can't always have there be a joke, John. You always have a joke, then suddenly the jokes don't land. And Zen science, you're going to be in charge of the laboratory mixing all the chemicals we use around here. Heather Geer, you're in charge of the cigarette breaks. Definitely. I hope you brought enough for everybody and also guilt us.

Starting point is 00:19:54 Kayla the king, hey, you know, you will basically be deciding everything that happens here at the channel from now on, and we are going to have to say yes, or else we'll be exiled or execute. Olivia Hamlin, you're in charge of whenever I'm trying to get a rap song down, feeding me the line that I forget, or if I'm off by a word or a syllable to remind me of what that is. Alan Ling, I think you will be the official guy off screen counting up every Andrew Gordon reference for each individual video. Kiera, you're in charge of when the crowd's not laughing, we need you to start laughing to entice them.

Starting point is 00:20:31 Juan Longoria, you're hired, you're doing a Desperate Housewives React series. Enjoy. Cliff Rodriguez, you're in charge of making sure I don't get canceled. Goat Nation, you will be our diplomatic ambassador to the rest of the nations outside the Reject Nation, being that you are the greatest of all time. It only makes sense.

Starting point is 00:20:51 Lorenzo Baxter, you're in charge of whenever someone hands. hands me a protein shake that you go, is there a way in that? Oh, Greg's allergic to way. Ooh, oh, differently sane. Your job is just to create chaos around the office for us to frantically find a way to fix. Marco Tunsell, you're the one in charge of blaming John. Oh, we need you. It's been a minute, man.

Starting point is 00:21:14 It's been a minute. Simply faded, hey, you just hang in the break room and you keep the vibes rolling. S.J. 94. You're in charge of whenever Koi is rambling for too long to kick the door and go, shut the hell up. Justin Martin, it's your job to unplug all this stuff for the audio whenever we begin the live stream. Philip J. Smith, Jr., you're in charge of making sure during Roxy's commentary to go, too much Jewish stuff. Hey, he's Marjorie. Look, you are going to be our official T-shirt model, and we need you to appear in every video in at least three of the shirts.

Starting point is 00:21:51 Daniel Evans, if Terra does not sound loud enough into the microphone, you're in charge of boosting the roadcaster volume. Hey, and, oh, Jen Smith, you are going to be scripting all of our shoutouts from now on. Melano Blanc, you're just in charge of looking good whenever someone comes through the door. Oh, oh, gang. I appreciate you all applying for this illustrious position. You were the only people we considered for any of these roles, except for that one role that we needed two people for with the thumbnails. So that's good. You guys work together.

Starting point is 00:22:28 Thank you guys for supporting your new place of work. You know, keep on pledging. You will not be cut. Your interns, obviously, you won't be compensated with anything of value for your time, except for the experience and the friends you made along the way, which is us. So keep at it. Maybe you'll get promoted. Love you.

Starting point is 00:22:48 ALEEN SULLIVANI. I don't know.

Your Ad Here

The Reel Rejects - ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL (2019) MOVIE REVIEW!! FIRST TIME WATCHING!!

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.