MovieChat Forums > Alita: Battle Angel (2019) Discussion > Uncanny valley makes the lead character ...

Uncanny valley makes the lead character unrelatable. Besides it's just a cartoon.


Just some cents about why it's bombing.

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good point. I did not see the movie yet but was very interested in the method it was made. It looks cool but the uncanny vally effect is a high flop risc. Although Polar Express made pretty well at the box office I think....

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Thanks for introducing me to a term that succinctly defines why I hate motion capture characters in live action movies. I'm troubled by the amount of people praising this movie. It seems they aren't affected by the uncanny valley and may be losing their humanity.

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Losing their humanity? Isn't that just a little dramatic?
I have wondered that about people who crave torture and gore but about big eyed CGI that is a feature in a movie?
It's just a movie..and the character does not look creepy in the least to me..

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If you save up all your cents you could buy a movie ticket.

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The character is part robot. It makes sense that she would look creepy.

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A good example from a terrible movie would be "Cherry 2000." That was a female robot that was not creepy or at least much less creepy.

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Alita is a human brain inside a cyborg body. Since the human element is there, that makes the character very relatable. There are many examples of humanity in Alita’s story. Her self discovery of who she is and who she will become is all there.

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That doesn't matter since the character looks creepy.

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Since Alita is portrayed as being human with her emotions intact I found the character relatable, despite her appearance, so the human element matters at least for some of us. The term “uncanny valley” doesn’t apply here from my view, if the character was void of emotions maybe I would see things differently. Emotions or not I didn’t see the character as being creepy instead quite the opposite. I think its amazing what the filmmakers have achieved in bringing Alita to life. I do recognize however that “uncanny valley” is a subjective term, but I think Alita looks great.

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I agree, surprisingly this was not as creepy as I expected. The eyes were weird but after a while I was not getting as much uncanny valley.

Especially impressive given (I've read) this was not mocap but actually full CGI. At this rate actors will be out of a job in within the next 25 years.

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I think Alita’s eyes actually had the opposite effect to uncanny valley with the audience. For me the large eyes made the character more relatable through her emotions and easier to accept Alita as being human.

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