Movie Review: Arrival - Sci-fi For The Thinking Person

Genre Sci-Fi
Director Denis Villeneuve
Producer Shawn Levy, Dan Levine, Aaron Ryder, David Linde
Actors Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Forest Whitaker
Reviewed on Cinema (2D)
Available on Cinema (2D)
Air Date 2016-11-11

pfangirl

Published November 4, 2016

Arrival , based on an award-winning short story by Ted Chiang, is the latest film to tackle the topic of first contact. And it may soon be regarded as a science fiction classic… if not a huge crowd-pleaser.

Arrival ’s premise is that twelve giant floating “shells” suddenly appear at random locations around the world. Immediately, army and scientific teams mobilise to interact with the creatures inside these spacecraft. Of course, the crucial question is “What do the aliens want?” That’s why in the United States, linguistics expert Louise Banks (Amy Adams) and mathematician Ian Donnelly (Jeremy Renner) are recruited by Forest Whitaker’s Colonel Weber. The pair are tasked with decoding the aliens’ communication system. That’s no small task on its own, but they’re also working against the clock. With global panic mounting, at any moment military leaders could initiate an attack on the “shells” and trigger catastrophe.

There’s actually a bit more to Arrival than this, but revealing more would spoil some of the film’s biggest surprises and interesting themes. Time. Memory. Language. Humanities vs. Science. Mutually beneficial collaboration. Arrival is strongly cerebral sci-fi. In line with this, the film tends towards quiet contemplation. Viewers who need continual action to stay engaged may find themselves bored as things are slowed right down at times.

Then again, mainstream audiences may overlook the “arty” moments and appreciate the overall credibility of Arrival . Like Interstellar and The Martian in the past few years, Arrival goes the realistic sci-fi route. If you know anything about language learning, the success of Banks’s teaching methods strains believability, but otherwise the film has a refreshing authenticity about it. It feels “real” in just about every aspect.

The aliens’ depiction is especially convincing. Unlike many other movies, Arrival doesn’t attempt to humanise or soften its extra-terrestrials in any way. They don’t speak English; they don’t look even vaguely humanoid. They’re blatantly alien, which introduces a lot of unpredictability – and related tension – into the scenes between them, Banks and Donnelly.

Speaking of Banks and Donnelly, Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner bring a lot of warmth to the film. Science fiction as a genre can feel devoid of emotion, preferring to place emphasis on cold logic and technology instead. Arrival ’s stars keep things relatable. Renner’s character provides some light comic relief, but Adams is the real heart of the film – depicting Banks as someone trying to pull off a mammoth task while coping with a secret grief. It’s an incredibly moving performance, and fantastic to see Adams carrying a movie again after her recently thankless work as Lois Lane in Zack Snyder’s Superman films.

Ultimately Arrival won’t be for everyone, and it would be very surprising if it sets the box office alight. However, it does offer many rewards for viewers who appreciate smart science fiction. Very much a product of the times we live in, Arrival has a strong message about human potential and progress, and how to tap it. Hopefully, the movie’s message will touch enough people in the months and years to come as its reputation grows.

What would it be like if aliens arrived on earth? Over the past four decades, Hollywood’s exploration of this question has resulted in movies like Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Independence Day, Signs and Contact. In some of these films, the aliens are benevolent. In others, decidedly not. Human-extra-terrestrial encounters on the big screen vary from jaw-droppingly wondrous to the stuff of nightmares. Arrival, based on an award-winning short story by Ted Chiang, is the latest film to tackle the topic of first contact. And it may soon be regarded as a science fiction classic… if not a huge crowd-pleaser. Arrival’s premise is that twelve giant floating “shells” suddenly appear at random locations around the world. Immediately, army and scientific teams mobilise to interact with the creatures inside these spacecraft. Of course, the crucial question is “What do the aliens want?” That’s why in the United States, linguistics expert Louise Banks (Amy Adams) and mathematician Ian Donnelly (Jeremy Renner) are recruited by Forest Whitaker’s Colonel Weber. The pair are tasked with decoding the aliens’ communication system. That’s no small task on its own, but they’re also working against the clock. With global panic mounting, at any moment military leaders could initiate an attack on the “shells” and trigger catastrophe. There’s actually a bit more to Arrival than this, but revealing more would spoil some of the film’s biggest surprises and interesting themes. Time. Memory. Language. Humanities vs. Science. Mutually beneficial collaboration. Arrival is strongly cerebral sci-fi. In line with this, the film tends towards quiet contemplation. Viewers who need continual action to stay engaged may find themselves bored as things are slowed right down at times. Then again, mainstream audiences may overlook the “arty” moments and appreciate the overall credibility of Arrival. Like Interstellar and The Martian in the past few years, Arrival goes the realistic sci-fi route. If you know anything about language learning, the success of Banks’s teaching methods strains believability, but otherwise the film has a refreshing authenticity about it. It feels “real” in just about every aspect. The aliens’ depiction is especially convincing. Unlike many other movies, Arrival doesn’t attempt to humanise or soften its extra-terrestrials in any way. They don’t speak English; they don’t look even vaguely humanoid. They’re blatantly alien, which introduces a lot of unpredictability – and related tension – into the scenes between them, Banks and Donnelly. Speaking of Banks and Donnelly, Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner bring a lot of warmth to the film. Science fiction as a genre can feel devoid of emotion, preferring to place emphasis on cold logic and technology instead. Arrival’s stars keep things relatable. Renner’s character provides some light comic relief, but Adams is the real heart of the film – depicting Banks as someone trying to pull off a mammoth task while coping with a secret grief. It’s an incredibly moving performance, and fantastic to see Adams carrying a movie again after her recently thankless work as Lois Lane in Zack Snyder’s Superman films.…

Movie Review: Arrival – Sci-fi For The Thinking Person

2016-11-04

pfangirl

A smart, credible and surprisingly moving sci-fi movie.

TOTAL - 8.6

8.6

More likely to be a hit with critics than mainstream audiences, Arrival offers many rewards for viewers who appreciate cerebral and contemplative science fiction.

User Rating: 4.75 ( 1 votes)

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