My thoughts: Amazing movie! This is how you take manga and make it live action. You speed up the pace, add things for your audience, and most of all trust the source. The story is good so USE IT. Yes, skip years of motorball if it tracks better for pacing. Make thoughtful changes for the medium.

Recommend: YES! if you love anime, cyberpunk, and how to use CGI for storytelling. I loved it, my kids loved it, my wife liked it, 4 thumbs up. Alita was off-putting to my younger kid at first but once she got the story she liked it. All and all its a great movie.