Yep.
Alita: Battle Angel (July 2018)
- Thread starter Burning Hearts of Qo'nos
- Start date
But models that creep people out probably won't be commercially successful, except in niche markets. That said, creeping people out might be a useful feature for a robot with military applications.
Some of the CGI aspects are a bit jarring, but overall, it looks like an interesting adaptation.
Even though they say they were going for "manga eyes," this character's features still look more Disney/Pixar to me. I mean, for me, what defines the characteristic look of anime/manga eyes isn't just the size, it's the shape and the specific stylization that's used to render them. Typically, the proportions are more rounded or squared off than a realistic eye; the shape of the eye is defined mainly by the heavy upper lid/lashes and the iris/pupil, with the lower lid faintly and incompletely rendered and the inner corner not drawn at all; and there's almost always at least one specular reflection on the iris to give it a dewy look.
Of course, the incomplete outline of the eye wouldn't be something you could replicate in live action, but to me, Alita's eyes would've needed a more rounded or vaguely trapezoidal shape, and perhaps heavy upper eyelashes, to feel like "manga eyes" to me.
Still firmly, firmly excited. It looks like they kind of toned down her eyes but that might be my imagination. I'm really curious as to how the story and setting has changed for this adaptation, but so far everything still looks great to me!
It's interesting that in the newer trailer, they added the war paint to Alita in the underground shots where it was absent in the first trailer. A pretty minor change, the only one I really noticed. But given that the film has been pushed back for release (it was intended to be a summer release from the early trailer and is now a winter release), perhaps they're putting some new touches in.
It's not too uncommon for first trailers and teasers to have unfinished special effects work since not everything for the films have been finalized. I think for the Guardian's of the Galaxy Starlord had a different looking mask in the same shot in all the trailers.
The new trailer makes this look even better. I've never read the source manga or the seen the anime, but the trailers looked good and Cameron and Rodriguez are two of my favorite filmmakers, so this is pretty high on my list of movies I want to see the rest of this year.
They're supposed to, because Alita isn't human. Movies and TV have been altering actors' appearances to make them look alien or artificial for generations -- e.g. Spock's ears, Data's skin and eye color, Worf's forehead, etc. This is just a new technique for doing that. (And not even that new. The same kind of eye-embiggening effect was used briefly in Star Trek 2009, on the alien doctor who delivered the infant James Kirk.)
What they've done here has definitely piqued my interest more than that first trailer.
About as well as Vulcan plastics
Not for me.
I find them extremely off putting.