As sci-fi is not necessarily one of my favorite genres, it certainly is a crowd pleaser with many an audience, which is why Hollywood has cranked out a plethora of them. Certainly I have my favorites: "2001: A Space Odyssey", "Silent Running", "Event Horizon" to mention a few, so when I decided to go and see "Arrival", I went with some trepidation, and got some surprises.
This story is about Earth's response to a possible alien invasion--whether good or bad. After extraterrestrial spacecraft plant themselves at various locations around the globe, a lindquist, Dr. Louise Banks (Amy Adams) and a theoretical physicist, Ian Donnelly (Jeremy Renner) must find a way to communicate with the mysterious visitors in order to learn what they want and whether they pose a threat to humanity.
As mankind teeters on the verge of global war, Banks, Donnelly, Colonel Weber (Forest Whitaker), Agent Halpern (Michael Stuhlbarg) and others of the team race time for answers-- and to find them, Banks will take a chance that could threaten her life, and quite possibly humanity.
Others to round out the cast are Mark O'Brien as Captain Marks, Tzi Ma as General Shang, Sangita Patel as Newscaster 1, Abigail Pniowsky as Hannah (8 yrs. old), Banks' daughter, Jadyn Malone as Hannah (4 yrs. old) and Julia Scarlett Dan as Hannah (12 yrs. old).
This was delineated with explicit detail by director Denis Villeneuve ("August 32nd on Earth" '98, "Maelstrom" 2000, "Happiness Bound" (Documentary) '07, "Polytechnique" '09, "Incendies" '10, "Prisoners" '13, "Enemy" '13, "Sicario" '15) plus shorts. By his very resume, this filmmaker is an eclectic artist which makes him a director that won't and can't be pigeon-holed. The feeling of the different characters in this seemed amazingly real and whole, with all their bravery and all their humanness. If you appreciate this director's style, he is filming "Blade Runner 2049" right now due to release in 2017. It was creatively written by Eric Heisserer ("A Nightmare on Elm Street" '10, "Final Destination 5" '11, "The Thing" '11, "Hours" '13, "Lights Out" '16) which was based on a story, "Story of Your Life" by Ted Chiang. As I watched the trailer on this film, I felt it would like what I finally received, however it was a bit more cerebral than I was expecting. Not that this is a bad thing, but since I wasn't ready for it, it made the viewing of this a bit strained. Surely it had cohesiveness and continuity, but with a couple a slow places in the middle and it was attempting to be on the cerebral side, I suspect it took me by surprise and became a bit too must to wrap my head around. Both Adams and Renner were very effective in their respective roles, and Whitaker, however having a smaller role, still was able to bring his amazing talent to the table.
If any moviegoer is expecting another "Independence Day", you will be sorely disappointed. The only similarity with these two films is that of being from the same genre. This is where the similarity starts and ends. This is a interesting expose of how we should confront a similar situation given the possibility. With that said, enjoy this gem--it is worthy of a view.
Out of 4 Stars: 3.5 Rated: PG-13 116mins.
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