MovieChat Forums > Alita: Battle Angel (2019) Discussion > Her big eyes ruins the movie for me

Her big eyes ruins the movie for me

posted 5 years ago by zeesha (1754)
31 replies | jump to latest

Besides the unsatisfied ending, Alita's big eyes is another bad decision. It is not a cartoon but a CGI movie with real people in it. Kitty cats with big eyes are adorable, but "a cyborg girl" with such big eyes is just weird. I was wondering what would she look like if they had made it right. Here is an attempt with my unprofessional photoshop skill:

original: https://s17.directupload.net/images/190707/zasgzxce.jpg
photoshop: https://s17.directupload.net/images/190707/fcyatydi.jpg

Which one do you like?

[–] fzane (1001) 5 years ago

I vote the bigger eyes. The movie was all about emotion from her, and the cat like eyes added more emotion for me. Second, i'm sure the larger eyes were an advantage for battle which was her purpose and design. Finally, in the original version of her (pre hollywood), she had big eyes as well https://s3.amazonaws.com/media-us-standrad/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/03205308/BAA7-450x675.jpeg

[–] zeesha (1754) 5 years ago

I basically agree with you on all those reasons. That's why her eyes in my photoshop are still relatively big - would you miss any emotion from her with those eyes? The original one is like putting invisible magnify glasses on her face, a typical example of "too far is as bad as not enough".

[–] Wint3rFir3 (6924) 5 years ago

I hate both versions of her eyes. And while I don't agree that the big eyes ruined the movie, I think they were the worst thing among a variety of bad things that, combined, ruined the film.

This movie leaned into emotions a lot more than I expected, but the eyes spoiled that. They're always conveying the same puppy-dog, watery emotion, even when inappropriate to the scene, which is glaringly obvious because of their size. It also made me feel like they didn't trust in the actress's ability to convey emotions in a raw way, not that the big eyes were a calculated choice to situate us in the world.

[–] zeesha (1754) 5 years ago

I tried regular size eyes with the photoshop and it ended up to an unattractive look. The ambition of the movie is to create a cyborg girl character as "the most human person" we "have ever met." Necessary or not, her emotions are indeed impressive, but those big eyes spoiled that. I totally agree.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

Besides the unsatisfied ending, Alita's big eyes is another bad decision. It is not a cartoon but a CGI movie with REAL people in it. Kitty cats with big eyes are adorable, but "a CYBER girl" with such big eyes is just weird.

You've answered your own question: Alita is NOT a 100% real person, but a cyborg, as she has a human brain but larger-than-normal artificial eyes. Come to think of it, nearly EVERYONE in that movie is a cyborg, to some extent!

[–] zeesha (1754) 5 years ago

"She is a cyborg", yes. But that could even justify putting another big eye with night vision capability on her forehead. It is not wrong, it is bad. Have you compared the size of her eye with the size of her mouth? I am criticizing this not just "larger-than-normal" but freaking large eyes, because it like an actor trying to act like his character is more feminine than a woman while his beard constantly remains us he is a man therefore how awesome his acting is. I hope this analogy makes my point more clear, and not leads to any misunderstanding.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

Wasn't Alita one of many elite soldiers involved in some space battle, as seen in flashbacks? I figured her and all of her kind had big eyes, to see better with. I may be wrong; if she was the only one of these soldiers with big eyes, then you have a point. Otherwise, well, you don't.

[–] zeesha (1754) 5 years ago

Yes, all URM soldiers have big freaking eyes in flashbacks, except the skeleton head of the pilot in the ruined URM ship seems quite human. That's how much effort the production team put in this movie to keep their design choice consistent.
Actually, whether they are consistent or not has little to do with whether the design choice is good or bad. Let's assume you are wearing a new dress with a unique fashion choice and your close friend tells you that you look like a clown in that dress - you don't say "Everyone in my family is dressed in the same fashion, so I must look fabulous." because that would only suggest that everyone in your family look like clowns, no offense. Anyway, if those big eyes didn't bother you to enjoy the movie, then good for you!

How about a staring contest? one, two, three, go---
https://www-animeherald-com.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Alita-Battle-Angel-Header-001-20171210.jpg

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

I was aghast at the idea too when I first saw the trailer, because they were literally taking an Anime trope and literally applying it to live action, but I got used to it in the end.

[–] mitzibishi (1617) 5 years ago

simple explanation.

They are trying to appeal to the snapchat filter generation with the big eyes, trying to relate to teenage girls with phones in front of their faces.

The main problem is, instead of going to cinemas and paying money to watch movies......teenage girls have their phones in front of their faces instead. Likes and upvotes on selfies with big eye filters are more important than paying to see big eye Alita beating up evil men.

They tried and it failed drastically because it bombed domestically and did not make bank in the end. It either lost money or barely broke even.

Dont ask an old man in a suit what teenage girls will spend money on.

[–] zeesha (1754) 5 years ago

I don't know much about the generation. The snapchat filter is mainly for fun, so I guess her big eyes might appeal to some of them if this movie is a comedy but it is not.
Alita's character is obviously the dream girl for young men- she is not only a badass in gaming but also love you, support you, protect you, forgive you and stay with you even when you become a total loser. I doubt modern teenage girls would find it relate to them, but who am I to say anything about "such a thing".

[–] mitzibishi (1617) 5 years ago

"she is a cyborg"

"You've answered your own question"

How do you propose that he/she answered their own question?

Cyborgs have large eyes by default?

Dont even bother, your Hamster running a wheel, mental gymnastics clutch to reach at a strawman will not save this film.

It BOMBED!!1!1!!!1!!1!!!!!!!

P.S. it did not make bank. it made a loss. (argue with me if you want to look foolish)

[–] Frogarama (12942) 5 years ago

Basic Troll-tch

[–] mitzibishi (1617) 5 years ago

Basic fantroll doing mental gymnastics in the hope of disguising problems with the film.

[–] Frogarama (12942) 5 years ago

As a combat cyborg, her eyes may be large for strategic reasons. They arent flesh and blood eyes.

[–] zeesha (1754) 5 years ago

I had relatively big eyes when I was a little boy and that really didn't help 👊. Eyes are vulnerable parts of the body regardless they are flesh and blood or not. Though, I am sure everyone would agree on the "strategic advantage" of this guy: http://images.fanpop.com/images/image_uploads/Mr-Bean-mr--bean-166155_598_328.jpg

[–] Frogarama (12942) 5 years ago

Alita is a cyborg but your image is a human BEAN lol

[–] Guitar King (4356) 5 years ago

The fact that Alita is a motion capture character ruins the movie. They should have cast Ella Purnell if big eyes are so important.

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3480246/mediaviewer/rm1806921984

[–] zeesha (1754) 5 years ago

/nm4023073/Rosa-Salazar

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

It's supposed to be weird.

[–] zeesha (1754) 5 years ago

And? Are we supposed to get used to it?

[–] R_Kane (15828) 4 years ago

I have ZERO problem with her eyes. I just got to see the film. I’d read a ton of posts mewling and bleating about her eyes, and now I don’t understand any of them. Her eyes are fine. If they’re not for you, great. I’m unconcerned.

[–] [deleted] 4 years ago

When I saw the trailers the big eyes thing turned me off of seeing it. When I did eventually see it -- somewhat reluctantly -- I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. And the whole big eyes thing disappeared and I stopped noticing them.

[–] zeesha (1754) 4 years ago

Everyone loves big-eyes baby Yoda, why not Alita? To figure this out, I started to look for the alleged a ton of posts about her eyes, but instead found this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GpoCXpTSA8, which ends with "I have to see her...again", really cracked me up laughing.

[–] R_Kane (15828) 4 years ago

Thank you, Kabuki and zeesha. I
am a mild anime fan. My touchstones are Blue Seed and Ninja Scroll (and Hentai that will remain unnamed!), so I am very comfortable with the anime traditions of eye and hair enhancement of characters in the genre. The character of Alita had me at Hello. I’ll elaborate in a later post. For now, let me say that I, too, enjoyed this MUCH more than I worried that I would. This is a real treasure. I’m going to put it in my library.

Always a pleasure to encounter like-minded travelers; or, better put, friends.

[–] jerryrip (57) 4 years ago

Not one poster mentioned the fact that the whole damn movie is based on a combination of a manga series of comics and a manga-based movie. Duh all the characters have big eyes! Get it?