Starring
Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Forest Whitaker, Michael Stuhlbarg, Tzi Ma,
Mark O'Brien. Directed by Denis Villeneuve. (2016, 116 min).
When
Interstellar was released, some comparisons were drawn to 2001: A Space Odyssey. While not as ambiguous
or visually groundbreaking, it was equally cerebral and conceptually
ambitious, not to mention a similar painstaking attention to detail
regarding the logistics of time and space travel.
If
Interstellar is the 2001 for a new century, then
Arrival can see viewed as this generation's Close
Encounters of the Third Kind.
Louise
Banks (Amy Adams) is a lonely linguistics expert and college
professor whose life (and everyone else's) is disrupted by
the arrival of 12 massive, almond-shaped ships which land at various locations around the world. She's then recruited
by the Army, led by Colonel Weber (Forest Whitaker), to work with
physicist Ian Donnelly (Jeremy Renner) in an effort to establish
communication with a ship in Montana. This is an enormous and time
consuming challenge, since the language of these aliens - who resemble
a cross between squid and elephants - is not only nonlinear, but not even spoken (they 'speak' through circular
blotches formed by spewing ink-like smoke from their tentacles).
 |
| "Some advanced race, Ian...all their pens leak." |
Though
troubled by flashbacks of the daughter she lost to cancer (and yes,
it's ultimately relevant to the story), Louise slowly makes progress.
But while she deduces the visitors are benevolent, China, led by
General Shang (Tzi Ma), has interpreted the alien message as a
threat. One by one, other nations begin to concur, including the
United States. It's at this point the movie starts to defy the
audience's expectations and reveal some considerable surprises you
aren't likely to see coming.
 |
| The world's biggest almond...one of Montana's most popular tourist attractions. |
Arrival
is an intelligent, ideas-driven science-fiction film along the lines
of The Day the Earth Stood Still and Close Encounter of the
Third Kind. Deliberately paced with an emphasis on dialogue and
raising discussion-worthy questions, there's little in the way of
actual spectacle (though it's still visually impressive). While the
climax may be underwhelming in that respect, it delivers a satisfying
emotional and intellectual payoff. The film is also elevated by
another Oscar-worthy performance from Adams, who doesn't even appear
to be acting here.
Not quite as emotionally resonant as Interstellar - though its
mind-bending concept is arguably more solid - Arrival
is thoughtful, smart and entertaining sci-fi. Its cerebral story and
outstanding performances make it the kind of film the viewer thinks
about long afterwards, pondering the choices they would make had
they been in the same situation. That alone makes Arrival
worth revisiting more than once.
EXTRA
KIBBLES:
FEATURETTES:
"Xenolinguistics:
Understanding Arrival"; "Acoustic Signatures: The Sound
Design"; "Eternal Recurrence: The Score"; "Nonlinear
Thinking: The Editorial Process"; "Principles of Time,
Memory & Language"
DIGITAL
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KITTY CONSENSUS:
PURR-R-R...LIKE A GOOD SCRATCH BEHIND THE EARS
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