Reviews: Arrival (2016) Movie Review
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Arrival (2016) is an 116-min PG-13 American science-fiction drama mystery film that had an estimated budget of $50 million and was based on Ted Chiang‘s short story titled Story of Your Life. Director Denis Villeneuve (Prisoners (2013), Incendies (2010), Sicario (2015), Enemy (2013)) did an outstanding job executing his film that his talents shine in/through. Arrival is one of the best science fiction films I have seen in years and is without a doubt the best science fiction film of 2016 because it was an emotional journey that explored communication and understanding.
Arrival revolves around Louise Banks (Amy Adams - Man of Steel (2013), American Hustle (2013), Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), Enchanted (2007)) who is a linguistics expert and professor. Louise did not know that her life was about to change after 12 mysterious alien crafts landed on her planet. She was offered an opportunity to assist/joined scientist Ian (Jeremy Renner - The Hurt Locker (2008), The Avengers (2012), The Bourne Legacy (2012), American Hustle (2013)) in communicating with the aliens. They were stationed at a military base near one of the aliens’ landing sites in Montana. Louise and Ian are tasked with finding out what the creatures want with their planet and why they are there.
Louise and Ian are not the only scientists trying to communicate with the aliens. There are 11 other teams of scientists trying to communicate with the other aliens. Louise and Ian were the first scientists to make the most progress by figuring out what language the aliens use which lead them to establish a bond with the aliens and nicknaming the aliens Abbott and Costello. Things are about to take a turn as other nations do not have the amount of patience that the US has and wants to start a war without understanding the aliens all too well. Will Louise be able to figure out why the aliens are there in time before it is too late?
Eric Heisserer has done a fabulous job writing a compelling script that was thoughtful and had several messages. I could not get over how the film opened as that image is stuck in my head along with many others. Arrival started with Louise welcoming her daughter Hannah into the world and then watching her daughter suffer from a rare illness that leads Louise to bury her teenage daughter. I was emotionally attached to Louise from that point on and sad when the movie took a turn after she was getting so close to finding out why the aliens are here. I was sad because I could not believe the twist and the conclusion to the film which leaves me to giving this remarkable film a score of nine. Needless to say that everything was almost perfect in the movie including editing, cinematography, sound, special effects, acting and everything else.
Sources Used to Shape This Review
Insights in this review are drawn from director interviews, fan commentary, production notes, and long-form breakdowns across genre-specific platforms. Content is written uniquely and reviewed for accuracy.
- Arrival Rating Scores
- Our Score: 9/10
- Overall Score: 8.65/10
- IMDB: 7.9/10
- MetaCritic: 8.1/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 9.4/10
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