Arrival Review

Made by Denis Villeneuve, the director and writer of the upcoming Dune movie and Blade-runner 2049, Arrival is one of the most realistic, yet abstract, visions of what aliens visiting earth would look like. The overall premise is set up wonderfully, even though the exposition only lasts about five minutes. But, this is just the start of Arrival completely throwing out the stereotypical story structure. Arrival plays out more like a slow burn. There isn’t much action, or even major turning points. But this works, and that’s due to the wonderful way that Villeneuve captures the feeling of the unknown. One way he does this is through making the entire story take place in two locations, all in a central place. This allows all of the characters to have intimate moments while having each character reacting to the events in a similar way. By doing that, the extremely strange experiences the protagonists go through seem like it could be real. The realism is also due to the world building. It feels that the world response would, more or less, play out almost exactly like this, even though the film does shine a negative light on China in that sense. Personally, I feel that the US would attack the aliens first, but I’m not making this film. Another brilliant thing is the use of color. While color often sets the mood for a scene, the color in Arrival tells the story. Even though every color is somewhat dull, there are many oranges, blues, and greens in the bulk of the scenes. As for the aliens, it’s all black and white. Having this direct contrast separates the two worlds, and the ominous white light itself can inspire fear. Another important piece to the film is language. Being that, to most people, interpreting an unknown language is such a foreign task, it gives the protagonist a reason to be there. Speaking of the protagonist, Amy Adams gives a good performance, and so does Jeremy Renner. However, especially for Renner, I would have enjoyed a bit more backstory to the characters. It does seem like there is backstory at first, but… yeah. As for the other characters, I really didn’t care for any of the military people. It all felt too over the top for those roles. But, it was all worth it for the “twist” at the end. Which, like a good sci-fi film, inspires long strings of existential thoughts. Thanks Denis. Overall, Arrival was a very realistic and compelling look at what aliens coming to earth might look like. Even though it could have used more character development, it was still an incredibly good film. 9.0/10