Arrival

Denis Villeneuve has quickly become one of my favorite and most anticipated directors working in Hollywood. His films are at least always great (ex: Prisoners) and he gave us a true, insanely intense classic last year with Sicario. 

Despite the fact that I may not be the absolute biggest fan of the original Blade Runner, I'm so excited that he'll be at the helm of the sequel. As long as the studio lets Denis make the movie he wants, then Blade Runner: Cooler Runnings (working title) should be outstanding. 

With Arrival, Villeneuve ventures from the more realistic realm into sci-fi. And with fantastic success. 

Arrival is another win for him and I'd argue that it's his second best film behind Sicario, but certainly his most interesting. Thanks to some great marketing, its secrets have been well hidden, and the film plays out in ways that you wouldn't expect making for a Nolan-esque experience at the cinema that you'll remember for a while.

It's smart, well acted, looks great, and has a surprising resolution/twist that will really make you think. 

"Yer a wizard, Amy!"

When you really need Superman,
but Zack Snyder has him hostage

Arrival is the basic story of the world's first encounter with alien life forms. Unlike most other sci-fi, this one is grounded in reality. It poses and answers questions of: what would first contact actually look like? How would mankind respond? How would life go on past that? How would each country act? Randomly, 12 alien ships, massive in size, but simple and almost archaic in architecture, "land" (read: hover) at 12 different, unrelated locations around the world. Every 18 hours in each location, there is a way to get into the ship and communicate with the aliens. Because of this, the U.S. Military recruits Louise (Amy Adams) as she's a top professor with linguistics and interpretation. As tensions ramp up across the world, she desperately tries to figure out their language and communicate effectively with them to ask, "Why are you here?". On paper, a linguistics film with aliens might seem rather boring, but Villeneuve does his best to keep things interesting. I may have been in a bit of a food coma last night when I saw it, but even still I was massively interested throughout and I never felt "bored".

Much of the success of Arrival is the performance by Adams. The "backstory" to her character is tragic but in classic Adam's fashion, her performance throughout is quite amazing. She portrays the reality of interacting with these aliens about as accurate as one could imagine, but she also is a strong female lead who stays calm under pressure given that the weight of the world is on her shoulders. Jeremy Renner, as her co-star, is also good here even with limited screentime. I felt that his character was a bit shoehorned in from a reasoning perspective, but I was appreciative he was there. Forest Whitaker also does good work here as an military commander who pressures Adams to work faster to get answers. It's a strong trilogy of cast mates, but the film really belongs to Adams.

Well that's not scary at all...

Something that Villeneuve is fantastic at -- dare I say he's one of the best in Hollywood at it? -- is creating real, palpable tension. Sicario was exhausting in the best of ways and Arrival shows his skill even further, in what's a more difficult scenario by all measures. He knows exactly what he wants on screen at all times and he knows that all facets of a film add up to create this. The film's cinematography is some of the year's best, as is its original score. These are two things that I'd argue can make or break a film and Denis just gets it. It's so refreshing. The "first encounter" scene is an instant classic and probably one of the year's Top 5 scenes. The cinematography is stunning, it moves slowly, allowing you to soak everything in, and the original score is daunting, weird, and tense. My jaw was dropped as I watched it unfold and it was during these moments I knew that I'd love this film. This same amount of quality remains throughout and the fantastic ending, even though it's a bit open ended, will potentially blow your mind and leave you thinking about other beings, language, how we speak, how we write, etc. Ever thought about those after a film? Didn't think so. 

Only a few things hold Arrival back from perfection. Given how well the film has aged in 12 hours for me, I imagine I'll all but ignore these with future viewings, but even still. There is a particular scene that has some weaker special effects, even though it's a great scene. Furthermore, I found that a certain part of the ending was frustrating in its continued mystery. The film presents this grandiose moment with a huge reveal, but then doesn't close the loop on it. Truth be told, for the life of me I can't imagine how they would have closed the loop on it, but still -- it left me begging for a resolution. 

Ugh. This cinematography is so gorgeous it hurts.

I love films that get better the longer they sit with you and fester in your thoughts. Arrival is one such movie. It's a cerebral, thought-provoking, and realistic sci-fi examination that excels in nearly every realm. It's superb central performance along with the originality of the story and the quality of Villeneuve's filmmaking add up to something really special and memorable. 

In a year with massive sequel-itis (where I'd say 80% of them were disappointing), Arrival is what we need more of. Original, fascinating stories that challenge the way we think but still entertain the hell out of us. 

CONS:

• Renner's character's reason for being there seems a bit shoehorned in. Luckily his character ends up being good
• I wish there would have been some more images from around the world of the other "shells". The film focuses heavily on the Montana one, but it couldn't have hurt to see all the other ones in all their glory
• Frustrating open ending to a portion of the ending. I'm dying to know what will happen!
• One scene with below-average special effects

PROS:

• Adams' performance is one of the best of the year and she's a great core for the film
• Strong supporting cast too
• A fantastic original story housed within a common genre. It's thoughtful and realistic as it can be with a doozy of an ending
• Superb special effects and sound editing
• Awesome cinematography
• Really strong original score
• Handful of iconic scenes. The first encounter is one for the ages
• Villeneuve cements his spot (as if it wasn't already) as one of Hollywood's best current directors. Another very impressive notch in his belt
• Thought provoking and memorable science fiction with a palpable sense of tension

Rath's Review Score | 9/10