_Alita: Battle Angel_ is like inviting all the coolest people to a Sunday afternoon kid's party.

Because the cast is there, but they get stuck in the muddy story lines and overshadowed by the monumental effects, which is a pity, really, because it's quite a cast. Jennifer Connelly, Mahershala Ali, Christoph Waltz, Ed Skrein... and a cameo by Spoiler Alert!? In a movie directed by Robert Rodriguez and produced by James Cameron!?

You'll go for the CGI but you'll stay for the CGI because that's really all there is. The story, as is often the case with Rodriguez films, is a little all over the place and the plot changes more often than a model in a cheap fashion show. Then, once he's finally decided on an ending, he has to rush to get there before the film ends so the last 20 minutes has to hold all of the plot developments before giving up and deciding to prepare for the worst and hope for a sequel.

PS [and minor spoiler alert]: [spoiler] I did have some questions concerning the human boy and his relationship with with the cyborg teen. Because we saw her naked enough to know that she's as anatomically incorrect as a Barbie Doll, so... she has no port into which he might insert his flesh drive? [/spoiler]