Movie Review: Alita: Battle Angel--SPOILERS

I wanted to like Alita: Battle Angel. Badass battle scenes! Women kicking ass! Christoph Waltz playing a good guy for once, and a warm, supportive father figure, to boot! A baddie having a change of heart! A dude in distress saved by the girl! It all sounds so fabulous, and it would have been if it hadn't ended before it ended. After two hours of banging relentlessly on about how Alita needed to confront Nova and "finish the mission," she doesn't. The movie ends with her mourning her lost twu wub in the locker room before a motorball match and looking toward Xolem, Nova's stronghold, with grim determination.

Ffffffffffffffft. If you're going to spend so much energy hyping up an epic confrontation, then have the balls to deliver it. I realize Rodriguez held it out in hopes of having a hook for a possible sequel, but there's no guarantee there'll be a sequel; in fact, early numbers are a bit dismal. Therefore, viewers who ponied up for this may be left forever wondering how it all turned out. It's immensely unsatisfying, and I left the theater feeling cheated by the flaccid, chickenshit ending that provided zero resolution or incentive to come back for the sequel.

AND THEY KILLED THE DOG, THE TURDS!

A B+ movie dragged down to a C- for lack of a decent conclusion.