Arrival

Arrival

Starring Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Forest Whitaker, Michael Stuhlbarg

Directed by Denis Villeneuve

The Story:
When twelve alien spaceships suddenly land on different areas of Earth, the human population is quite understandably concerned, especially since it seems like there's no communication.  The government brings in linguistics expert Dr. Louise Banks (Amy Adams) and scientist Ian Donnelly (Jeremy Renner) to try and communicate with the aliens to see what they want, and why they're on Earth.  As Louise harnesses her linguistics expertise, the world becomes more and more concerned and they face the brink of an all-out war between humans and aliens.

The Synopsis:
When it comes to Sci-Fi movies, there's typically two ways a film can go: they can either be so incredibly corny and cheesy you're expecting the aliens to arrive and say "take me to your leader," or they can be highly cerebral, intelligent and filled with deep dramatic performances and show that even in a movie that's so ridiculous it can still appeal to the most humanistic tendencies of people.

Fortunately, there's no "take me to your leader" scenes in "Arrival."  Instead, we're gifted with a film that - although its premise is extremely implausible -  manages to make you really think and ask important questions about your own place in the world.  It's a deep, philosophical film that gets your brain going and leaves you in disbelief over what you just witnessed.  It's everything that's right with the Sci-Fi genre, along the lines of "Interstellar," "Gravity," "Moon" and "The Martian."

The film features five-time Oscar nominee Amy Adams as Dr. Louise Banks, who is one of the foremost linguistics experts that the government calls upon to decipher languages from foreign enemies.  She gives another knockout performance as she struggles with her own inner demons as well as trying to figure out if these new visitors are just here for a moment, or planning on annihilating mankind.  She gives such a tortured performance that it stands out more than the aliens (which, thankfully, aren't overly CGI and actually look rather practical) and the oval-shaped black ships that hover over the ground.  She can act with just a mere expression, and you're immediately drawn to the situation, her struggle, and everything else in between.  The bulk of the film rests on her very capable shoulders, and she does not disappoint.  Jeremy Renner and Forest Whitaker give decent enough performances, but once again it's Amy Adams who clearly delivers the goods. 

On top of the top-notch acting talent, director Denis Villeneuve ("Sicario," "Prisoners" and the very underrated "Enemy") also relies on some of the best cinematographers and composers Hollywood has to offer.  As chief cinematographer, Bradford Young takes something totally impossible and makes it seem possible through natural lighting, opaque color hues and conceptualized flashback sequences.  It's a beautiful blend that pulls you into the story and feel like this could really happen.  As composer, Johann Johannsson creates mood with simple instrumentals, and brings to life the gravity of the situation with powerful horn blasts and stringed instruments that entrances and captures the viewer. 

As I said earlier, what "Arrival" does is that it shows a deeply humanistic side to society.  We've seen in other Sci-Fi blockbusters that, when faced with a unified threat, countries currently at war with one another can come together to fight for the common good.  On the reverse side, there's other films that split society and only deepens the divide.  "Arrival" blends the two together, at first uniting the world in trying to understand what is happening, but as the months go by, countries begin to take matters into their own hands and could possibly cause another world war - with aliens.  It's an intriguing premise that will never be fully appreciated until when (some people say never, but I tend to believe that there's intelligent life out there) this sort of event happens in real life.  Still, it's interesting.

At the heart of "Arrival" isn't an "Independence Day" style destruction of your favorite landmarks, but rather something people have struggled with since society began: communication.  We try to communicate with people in other countries, or even on our own continent, with very little success.  This causes people to turn on one another over nothing, and produces countless misunderstandings that didn't need to be.  For "Arrival," Louise relies on written word to communicate with the aliens, and they respond in kind.  It takes months to fully understand their language, but once she does, she learns the true meaning of their existence and what they really want.  She also delves into the theory of linguistic relativity, and leaves you with a newfound appreciation for how we communicate with one another. Once again, it takes an incredibly impossible movie to bring out the most possibilities in us all.

The Summary:
Featuring a home run performance by Amy Adams, combined with stellar cinematography and composition, "Arrival" is just the Sci-Fi epic we've been looking for, and arrives just in time.

The Score: A+