Early reactions to Robert Rodriguez’s Alita: Battle Angel praise the film as an emotional, mind-blowing 3D adventure. It’s been a long road to the big screen for Alita: Battle Angel, which is based on the manga by Yukito Kishiro. James Cameron became a fan of the manga after being introduced to it by Guillermo del Toro, and he would spend years developing the material as a directing project for himself. It would eventually take a backseat when Cameron focused on developing the original Avatar, but as the years went by it would fall into development hell.

Cameron’s focus on the upcoming Avatar sequels made it seem unlikely he would ever get around to Alita: Battle Angel. Cameron would eventually pass the project on to Robert Rodriguez instead, giving the filmmaker over 600 pages of notes that had to be condensed into a workable script. The story of Alita: Battle Angel takes several centuries into the future, where a cyborg named Alita (Rosa Salazar) is nursed back to health by a kindly doctor (Christoph Waltz), who tries to help her remember her violent past.

Related: Alita: Battle Angel (Trailer #3)

Alita: Battle Angel has had its release date pushed back a couple of times, and anticipation for the movie currently feels somewhat muted. Now early reactions are in, and it sounds like Rodriguez may have crafted the first unmissable blockbuster of 2019. The movie is praised as an immersive and emotional ride and one that makes great use of the 3D format.

Paul Shirley of JoBlo is particularly effusive in his praise, dubbing it a visceral ride with great effects and dark story twists.

Hopefully, this early buzz will give Alita: Battle Angel a shot in the arm. Given the amount of time the project has spent in development, and the involvement of Cameron as a producer, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise the film had the potential to be great. After spending the better part of a decade developing the Avatar sequels, Cameron is suddenly very busy. In addition to filming Avatar 2 & 3, he’s producing both Alita and the upcoming Terminator 6, which marks his first return to the franchise since the second movie in 1991.

If Alita: Battle Angel performs well, Rodriguez has confirmed further sequels have already been mapped out. Rodriguez himself has been linked to the long-gestating Escape From New York remake as his next assignment, but when asked about his involvement during a recent Q&A event, he wouldn’t confirm he’s still part of the project.

More: Robert Rodriguez Won’t Confirm Or Deny Directing Escape From New York

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