While San Diego Comic-Con 2018 has played host to a number of trailer and exclusive footage debuts, one film that wasn’t in Hall H but had a Comic-Con presence anyway was Alita: Battle Angel. The filmmakers invited folks to get a look at some exclusive footage from the upcoming manga adaptation—about five scenes in total—and Collider’s own Perri Nemiroff was in attendance. In the video above, Perri gives her overall thoughts on the footage, including how the blending of the CG character of Alita with live-action human characters still isn’t quite working for her.

Alita has been in the works for years, and at one point was going to be director James Cameron’s next project until he chose Avatar instead. It’s based on the graphic novel series GUNNM by Yukito Kishiro and while Cameron still serves as a producer and co-writer on the project, it’s Robert Rodriguez who’s bringing it to life as director and co-writer, with Laeta Kalogridis serving as the film’s third and final co-writer.

Rose Salazar fills the role of Alita via motion capture, chronicling the story of a young woman who awakens in a future world she doesn’t recognize with no memory of who she is. She’s taken in by a compassionate doctor named Ido (Christoph Waltz), and a struggle ensues between building a new life and discovering the truth behind Alita’s history.

Get the full rundown of the footage in the video above. Alita: Battle Angel opens in theaters on December 21st and also stars Jennifer Connelly, Mahershala Ali, Ed Skrein, Jackie Earle Haley, and Keean Johnson.

Here’s the official synopsis for Alita: Battle Angel:

From visionary filmmakers James Cameron (AVATAR) and Robert Rodriguez (SIN CITY), comes ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL, an epic adventure of hope and empowerment. When Alita (Rosa Salazar) awakens with no memory of who she is in a future world she does not recognize, she is taken in by Ido (Christoph Waltz), a compassionate doctor who realizes that somewhere in this abandoned cyborg shell is the heart and soul of a young woman with an extraordinary past. As Alita learns to navigate her new life and the treacherous streets of Iron City, Ido tries to shield her from her mysterious history while her street-smart new friend Hugo (Keean Johnson) offers instead to help trigger her memories. But it is only when the deadly and corrupt forces that run the city come after Alita that she discovers a clue to her past – she has unique fighting abilities that those in power will stop at nothing to control. If she can stay out of their grasp, she could be the key to saving her friends, her family and the world she’s grown to love.