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Twitter Hates James Cameron's Alita: Battle Angel Movie Trailer

Maybe the big eyes were a bad choice.

By Chris Hayner on December 11, 2017 at 11:02AM PST

James Cameron has been been trying to get an adaptation of the Battle Angel Alita manga made since as far back as 2000. At one point, he even said he intended to direct it. Fast forward to current day and the movie finally exists, with Cameron as a producer and Robert Rodriguez directing.

The first trailer for Alita: Battle Angel has arrived, and the reaction it's receiving surely can't be what everyone involved was hoping for. Rosa Salazar portrays the titular Alita, a cyborg warrior. While, for the most part, the trailer seems to be a decent adaptation of the source material, there is one major thing that doesn't fit in with the rest of the movie.

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Now Playing: Alita: Battle Angel - Official Trailer

In the movie, Alita is portrayed as having giant eyes in a normal-sized head. While big eyes are a trademark of many manga and anime classics, it looks downright strange in a live-action film populated with live-action human beings. The eyes and the digital work done to the character's face make her look animated.

It took almost no time for many to jump to Twitter, comparing the trailer to everything from Who Framed Roger Rabbit? to cult classic ET: The Extra-Terrestrial rip-off Mac and Me to the baby in Twilight: New Moon - Part 2. The movie "attempts to give its heroine IRL anime eyes and it's the kookiest looking thing," one user says.

In the wake of that 'Alita: Battle Angel' trailer, seems like a good time to collectively remember this iconic demon child. pic.twitter.com/ORAaHeXwZC
— Adam Chitwood (@adamchitwood) December 8, 2017

ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL attempts to give its heroine IRL anime eyes and it's the kookiest looking thing https://t.co/sAdtEeJ9Gt pic.twitter.com/CLpE0grQ0y
— Alison Willmore (@alisonwillmore) December 8, 2017

i think we all know where alita battle angel is going pic.twitter.com/zGyKrYb2ox
— Tristan Cooper (@TristanACooper) December 8, 2017

Alita: Battle Angel trailer: Nope. Nuh-uh. No thank you, goodbye. I want no part of that Black Hole Sun video uncanny valley ish.
— Alisha Grauso (@AlishaGrauso) December 8, 2017

It's just a little too difficult to look past those giant eyes in the first trailer, which is a shame. A Robert Rodriguez movie that boasts a cast including Christoph Waltz, Mahershala Ali, Jennifer Connelly, and Ed Skrein, just to name a few, should be pretty amazing.

Not all hope is lost, though. This is just the movie's first trailer. Alita: Battle Angel doesn't hit theaters until July 20, leaving plenty of time to change public perception. In the meantime, take a look at more of our favorite tweets about the trailer below.

behind the scenes snapshot of alita: battle angel pic.twitter.com/l9uaB5SWeO
— SungWon Cho (ProZD) (@prozdkp) December 8, 2017

Alita: Battle Angel (2018) pic.twitter.com/FrR3rkF3CD
— Mat Paget (@MatPaget) December 8, 2017

I just saw the trailer for Alita: Battle Angel and I'm just like.... pic.twitter.com/0Baxk2TZWw
— Rainbow Rocket Thot DJ (@OhHeyDJ) December 8, 2017

ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL looks *horrible*. Someone forgot to tell Robert Rodriguez that faces shouldn't look like anime faces in real life.
— Andrew Todd (@mistertodd) December 8, 2017

I would have chosen the dog filter for ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL, but that’s just me.
— Russ Fischer (@russfischer) December 8, 2017

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Edited By utherpend

I collected the Manga when it came out and the clothes as well as a lot of the settings are off. The comic also has a lot of graphic violence which has to be shown to show the two worlds that exist in where they live, its a hall mark of that type of Manga. The problem is that hollywood thinks they can simply take the names and cherry pick the story lines and some how its the same as the comic people loves. Ghost in the Shell shows how WRONG they are.

2 • 7 years ago

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Edited By Texus009

@utherpend: I think we should give Robert Rodriguez a bit more benefit of the doubt though, he did adapt Frank Miller's Sin City about as accurately as humanly possible lol. That movie also had a ridiculous amount of graphic violence, as many of Rodriguez's movies do, so I'm hoping that'll continue with this.

There are some things in the Alita trailer that looked a little different sure, but also lots of stuff taken straight from the manga, like Ido's overall look with the hat and glasses, and that crazy giant sledgehammer thing he has lol :), also the design pattern on Alita's first android body is literally identical to the images in the manga. The scrapyard and Zalem look like they do in the books as well, and also the grind-cutter! Might not be perfect but it seems pretty close to me.

Upvote • 7 years ago

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Edited By utherpend

@Texus009: So you think Rodriguez is a "good" director? He was ONE of several directors on Sin City, he also brought us the iconic Machete, and the Grind House movies which are far from being good. I will never forgive him for LYING when Predators came out by putting out PHONY trailers that showed LOT of predators in the movie when it was only THREE. He even lied during interviews and gave fake info to hype the movie up with things that were never in the movie. I dont trust him as far as I can throw his over rated ego.

Upvote • 7 years ago

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@utherpend: He's an interesting director, not perfect sure but he's made lots of cool stuff.

I don't know anything about that Predators thing, which he didn't direct and only produced, and I also haven't seen Machete.

But yeah man Desperado, From Dusk Till Dawn, Grindhouse were all pretty awesome, and he definitely directed Sin City, the Frank Miller director credit was a bit of a gimmick. Miller did collaborate on it but if you watch the behind the scenes documentaries, you can see it's Rodriguez who is making the movie.

Side note: do you really need to use caps to get your point across?

Upvote • 7 years ago

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@Texus009:

If you want to see terrible watch either of the Machete movies, those show how he directs when he doesnt have anyone telling him how they want the picture to come out.

As for the caps since you cant hear tone or tell which parts of a sentence someone may give more emphasis to the caps DRAW peoples attention to certain points. It works.

Upvote • 7 years ago

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Edited By Sven_Viking

I’m OK with the eyes — they look weird but she’s a cyborg in a weird world. If anything the rest of the world isn’t weird enough, which causes it to stand out more.

I think part of the problem, though, is that the trailer is played like some sort of heartwarming romantic drama (maybe that is what the movie will be, or maybe they’re just trying to surprise people?) A robot having unusual large eyes may not seem as distracting in a grimdark body-horror action gorefest.

6 • 7 years ago

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I had no idea what this film was, it was the eyes that actually got me to watch the films trailer and interested in watching the film! I think the eyes look superb, it makes the character very appealing and definitely unique and different.

Maybe I'm in the minority, but I'm actually interested in watching the movie and the eyes are to blame for that :D

11 • 7 years ago

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Edited By ToadstoolPeach

I admit I was caught off guard by the eyes, but I've been wanting to see this movie ever since it was announced James Cameron got the rights to it back in the 1990s so something like that won't shake my desire to see it on day one.

7 • 7 years ago

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when did comments on twitter become newsworthy?

13 • 7 years ago

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Weeaboo trash are never happy.

Upvote • 7 years ago

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I think the movie looks pretty awesome

14 • 7 years ago

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Without knowing nothing of this movie and what it's based off of, I noticed the eyes looked really weird. Just viewing the trailer initially without any context, the first thing I thought of was "wow they made her eyes look like anime but she's a robot irl."

Again I still don't understand the whole back story, but yea it looks hella weird to me.

2 • 7 years ago

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Edited By Zignoff

First Someone more needs to tell somebody that RL anime DOESN'T WORK, we have seen this with Ghost in the shell, Dragonball and Deathnote and works less with a series as unique in it's art and world as complex and unique as that manga. Even the anime could barely do it justice.

Second does that look like this Hugo look like this?

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/battleangel/images/a/ab/BAAOAV_Ido_closeup.JPG/revision/latest?cb=20110330162700

NOOOOOOOO damn it, where is his mark, why does he look like he is damn near bald, why does their house look so nice in a FUCKING SLUM. WHY IS THE DAMN ASSISTANT A MIDDLEAGE BLACK WOMAN?

You know this guy next to Ido http://www.terminally-incoherent.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/alita.jpg

Who isn't really an assistant more of a scrapper he gets shit from.

What with James camerons WE couldn't do something similar to the outfit that they had for the clown guy in the spawn live action movie?

Also WHY DOES SHE STILL HAVE THE ENGRAVED FLOWER ARMS FIGHTING the one reamped merc guy , and WHY IS SHE NEARLY IDO'S HEIGHT!?

GARRRGH!...

2 • 7 years ago

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Edited By VS_Shield

@Zignoff: DeathNote was great except for the freakish cartoon-like reaper.

Upvote • 7 years ago

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@Zignoff: I think he may actually have some sort of forehead mark, but it’s really subtle. The tattoo is certainly kind of important to the plot.

Upvote • 7 years ago

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Edited By GhostRoman

Good ol' ProZD

Upvote • 7 years ago

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Amanda Seyfried looks different than I remember.

3 • 7 years ago

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...

Oh, these eyes...

...

They're... big.

...

Okay, I feel werid when I see her eyes....

2 • 7 years ago

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Edited By SerOlmy

In the immortal word of Hermes Conrad "I'd like to put the little bastard in a sack and toss the sack in a river and hurl the river into space." Sweet jebus that is hideous. It's like they took the uncanny valley knob and cranked it up to 11.

Whoever thought the aesthetic here was the right way to go, as well as anyone who green-lit the choice should all be fired IMMEDIATELY. Someone in another thread said she looks like Gollum's teenage sister, and damn if that isn't accurate. I'm not entirely sure the size of the eyes is the biggest problem, they look like they aren't set properly. Like someone was playing around with the eye width slider in Black Desert and maxed it out just to look funny/terrible.

2 • 7 years ago

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@SerOlmy: She isn't a human though, she's a cyborg.

2 • 7 years ago

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Edited By Dark_Matters

@50_Ft_Kingie: She's a cyborg who was specifically created to look exactly like the younger version of a human being.

That human being was a princess, and if you have the technology to make a f#*$ing cyborg, why would you screw up the eyes? To piss off the all powerful royal family and get executed on purpose?

It's a stupid decision to make her eyes look like this, it goes against the manga, and it's jarring and unpleasant to look at.

Upvote • 7 years ago

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love the eyes.

4 • 7 years ago

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Edited By KamiNoBeniMizu

The eyes look out of place when she's the only one with big eyes. In the manga, many others have big manga eyes as well, yet in the movie she looks anime with realistic texture compared to others standing beside her.

Other movies with robots had them with human sized eyes. Unless it gives her an advantage like wider view range, it should be changed, or maybe not.

It looks darn hilarious actually!

3 • 7 years ago

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Edited By Dark_Matters

@kaminobenimizu: Agreed, it looks like a joke.

Upvote • 7 years ago

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Edited By KillerCondoms

People like to complain just for the sake of complaining.

The eyes are fine.

Never saw the anime but this looks interesting.

11 • 7 years ago

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@killercondoms:

They are fine if her parents/siblings are Gollum from LotR.

It is f***ing hideous, compounded by the fact that literally none of the other characters look like that.

Also, never saw the anime, but good god does this look like a tire-fire in the middle of an impact crater.

2 • 7 years ago

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@SerOlmy: Apparently in the anime this is what her eyes are like so what exactly is the problem? Besides she isn't human so again what is the big deal?

Nobody complained about Gollum looking that way so why should this be any different?

Got a problem with it then don't watch it and move on, the complaining is pointless.

3 • 7 years ago

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Edited By SerOlmy

@killercondoms:

She is a brain in a box just like the Major from GitS. The intent is to humanize her while still making her look artificial. They colossally failed. The artificial components and limbs are clearly visible, one would think that would be enough, but they had to take it to the extreme and crank up the uncanny valley to the maximum. The result is her appearance screams bad CGI to anyone who has ever played a modern video game. As I said in a previous post it is even more jarring/immersion-breaking since all the other characters (mostly cyborgs) do not look like that.

In short, she doesn't look artificial, she looks like she was badly CGIed, like something from an ME:Andromeda cutscene.

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Edited By Xristophoros

@SerOlmy: no, here cgi is well done actually. if you don't like the aesthetics and proportions of here facial features, that is one thing, but that has nothing to do with there being "poor" cgi. also, in the manga itself, alita has larger eyes than the other characters so i suppose cameron thought it would be a good idea to stay true to her doll-like character design. for once, hollywood did justice to its source material and yet all i hear is people complaining. funny enough, on anime forums -- a place where you will find the most nitpicky of fans -- the majority of them are OK with the look of alita. i found it assuring that it is mainly those not in the know or ignorant about anime/manga who are overly toxic about the look.

2 • 7 years ago

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Looks fine, she's a robot, has a certain uncanny valley look to her, I dont see the problem.

18 • 7 years ago

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@leviathanxx: Exactly this. I'm guessing it's deliberate on their part to underline that she's a robot.

3 • 7 years ago

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@Martin_Pagan: I get the feeling the idea behind the design, within the context of the story, is that she was designed to look like an anime character. But I also get the feeling the idea behind the design, from a filmmaking perspective, is to make a film for tweenage girls who feel “ways about stuff” because their bitchy friends have boobs and they don’t.

Maybe that’s slightly cynical...

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Edited By streamline

@Martin_Pagan: I thought that way until I saw the face of the other robots. If the story doesn’t lead to a real romance and the big eyes plays a role in reminding the male character that she is an android, then maybe it has more meaning. It would surprise and disappoint me if he looks pass it and it turns out to be a cliche romance arc.

Upvote • 7 years ago

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wait, isnt the entire film a CGi film ? even the human characters in full Cgi ??? Like Final Fantasy The Spirits Within and Tin Tin ?

Upvote • 7 years ago

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Eeeeh... Why didn't they just have an actual person instead of a CGI character? This looks super goofy together with real people.

3 • 7 years ago

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@KaptenHaddock: Why did they try to do this to BEGIN WITH it was a bad idea form the get go, Live action JUST CAN'T DO ANIME!

2 • 7 years ago

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Ehh, I've seen worse trailers. But I've seen better.

3 • 7 years ago

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Edited By Xristophoros

people need to calm the **** down. everything about the trailer was great... the eyes are a bit weird, sure, but don't flame the entire movie over that. she is an android and doesn't need to have human proportions... people bitch if you stray too far from the source material; people bitch if you adapt too closely to the source material. you cannot win. if cameron is smart he will ignore every single one of the haters and stick with his vision.

11 • 7 years ago

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@Xristophoros: Fact of life: people love to bitch about literally everything, especially on Twitter.

Upvote • 7 years ago

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@Xristophoros: Please shut the absolute **** up. People who allow this shit to fly like you disgust me and why we get shit attempts at live action anime like Ghost in the Shell and Dragon Ball Evolution.

Upvote • 7 years ago

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@Zignoff: Maybe you should STFU. I've liked Battle Angel since middle school which was over 15 years ago and I've been waiting for this movie in particular for 10 years and, as a hardcore fan, so far this looks fine.

Here's the thing, if you were paying attention to the STORY and THEMATIC SUBTEXT of the trailer, it actually looks good and in line with the manga. The problem with GitS and DBE (though tbf making a DB movies is like trying to polish a turd) is that they didn't care about story and the visuals were crappy. Here there might be some problems with the visuals but the story seems to be good and then you shit on the whole thing for one tiny superficial blemish.

Upvote • 7 years ago

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@Zignoff: i feel sorry for you. scurry back into your little hobbit hole now.

7 • 7 years ago

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@Xristophoros: Already the movie not being anime is straying too much for some. So Cameron decided to maker the MC somewhat anime, yet it backfired. At least he FINALLY put something out! I though he would never do it! But he will!

Upvote • 7 years ago

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@Xristophoros: Agreed, movie looks good, but those eyes are weird af.

Upvote • 7 years ago

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I've never heard of it.

Maybe people forgot that James Cameron has been involved in making a lot of bad movies.

Also I'm personally not a fan of CGI, and James Cameron seems far to on board for it.

2 • 7 years ago

patriotplayer90

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patriotplayer90

@cornbredx: he's the producer, not the director.

Upvote • 7 years ago

Red_hot_smasher

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Red_hot_smasher

@cornbredx: Has Cameron even made anything worth watching since Terminator 2?

2 • 7 years ago

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She looks more like Gollum: Battle Hobbit....

8 • 7 years ago

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