I watched this in glorious regular-ass 2D.
You know what, this was fairly enjoyable. Visually there's no doubt that Robert Rodriguez nailed it. The grimy cyberpunky feel of the city is great, and it's effortlessly presented as a living, actual location. Recently rewatched Black Panther and the difference in how the streets of Wakanda versus Iron City's are presented is kinda huge. Really nicely executed. The main cyborg designs are essentially all fantastic and very creative. Just really fucking cool-looking characters. Speaking of, the CGI is top tier and I wasn't bothered a single moment by Alita's eyes, it's a non issue. And the character is so often doing all kinds of crazy acrobatic stuff that it's definitely a positive that she's entirely CGI, else we would constantly suffer the disconnect between a digital double and a live action actress.
The action sequences are pretty awesome. And savage. Alita is a straight killer, doesn't give a single fuck. I was surprised by the brutality of this PG-13 movie. I guess you can get away with a lot if the blood is colored blue and you aren't actually killing people. :P Everything is shot, framed and edited cleanly and clearly. You're never confused about what's going on, there's a clear line of action and direction in every sequence. Everything is exciting and dynamic. Frankly directors that dwell in adapting comic books would do well to take a look at this film and see how that shit should be. My props to Robert Rodriguez. I also gotta say never thought to myself "I wish I had seen in 3D." Didn't matter at all that it was just 2D. Honestly I'm kinda pretty over that shit. However, a few times I was actually wishing this was shot in HFR. There's a lot of detail in what is going on and sometimes the character do zip by quickly and I think it would have greatly benefited from a higher framerate.
That said, the story is spotty. I enjoyed it for about 75% of it, then it makes a few turns here and there that don't make a whole lot of sense. The romance subplot flat out sucks, not due Alita/Rosa Salarez's fault, who is great. Just really enjoyable to watch her do her thing. Her love interest is unfortunately a black hole of charisma and personality. A totally charmless dweeb that I couldn't be any less interested in. And there's no conclusion. The movie ends almost suddenly. It feels like it's missing story.
That said I really liked it mostly due to the visual side of things, and due to Alita.
But this is no Speed Racer, which again people have began to call another movie "The Speed Racer of 20XX", whatever the hell that means anyway. There is no great innovation or boldness in the movie's aesthetic, cinematography or editing techniques. And the story just doesn't really hit emotionally, not for me anyway, which is what really endeared Speed Racer to me, it's not just some brainless rollercoaster of colors. But I digress. Alita is a good time and worth a watch with the appropriate expectations, but flawed and doesn't quite manage to hit its mark.