REVIEW: ARRIVAL
Something bothered me right before I watched Denis Villeneuve's new film Arrival: the trailer to the upcoming sci-fi flick Passengers. It's a film I've been anticipating for quite some time, and perhaps I'm going in with blind admiration for it's two leads, Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt, the current gods of movies. The trailer hooked me; these two in a spaceship already promised my butt in the seat. But then it kept going, revealing more and more about the plot that I would have gladly wanted to find out when I was seeing it for the first time. Hollywood trailers revealing too much gets enough publicity though...the ones that don't need more press for the ones that do to not succeed. The marketing for Arrival was perfect: it revealed the most sensational, attention-grabbing aspect of its product (an alien invasion) but gave you no more, and no less. So when you see Arrival, don't come expecting Independence Day 3, expect a quiet, somber exercise in sci-fi that reminded me of a tamer, more expensive version of one of my favorite shows now, "Black Mirror." And that's high praise.
The film's opening reveals to us an intimate detail about the life Dr. Louise Banks (Amy Adams), which carries with us throughout the film as it shows she's a college professor and a highly trained linguist. When the alien spacecraft begins to appear, Forrest Whitaker, who maybe smiles once in the entire film, asks her to be a part of the team that is trying to decipher these creatures and what their presence on Earth means. So Dr. Banks and scientist Ian Donnelly (Jeremy Renner) are granted access with a few others and attempt to speak to the extraterrestrials directly. The results are surprising.
Foolishly I waited until a plane ride to watch Villenueve's last feature Sicario, which would've easily made my top five from last year. Whenever I go to the movies, I always ask was it the right choice for the filmmakers to bring this story to the big screen, and for three times now the answer has been yes. Prisoners was a terrifying character study on how far a father could be pushed to find his daughter. Sicario was the tale of how far an FBI agent could be pushed while witnessing the crushing corruption pervading her surroundings. At a debut PG-13, Villenueve is putting the intensity away in favor of a quiet, reflective sci-fi, something Rod Serling would've bought front-row tickets for me. We don't see the stock wave of people flooding the streets, screaming that the end is nigh. The film's perspective primarily lies with Banks, so nearly everything we see comes from her POV. One of the greatest talents Hollywood has been blessed with, Adams is utterly compelling to watch, ditching movie star moments like in Enchanted and American Hustle for a more intimate character exploration. How freaked out would you be if you got to be the one who communicated with the first ever alien life forms? Adams makes it believable, and though it's a smaller role than we expect to see from the A-list Renner, he pulls it off just fine.
The special effects, in a movie where the special effects aren't supposed to be the focus, are excellent. The pace is deliberately slow, as, I would contend, a rebellion against sci-fi movies we get these days that operate at a breakneck pace. Arrival slows everything down. It's the anti-Independence Day 2, and instead of the Passengers trailer, it does much more showing than telling. It's an exploration into heady topics, and a film worth a second view down the road (or if you're a superfan, the next day). I can't wait to fully sink my teeth into Arrival later, but it's unique, original and rewarding cinema, and I'm perfectly happy we've arrived at this point
for the time being.
Rating: 3/4 stars
The film's opening reveals to us an intimate detail about the life Dr. Louise Banks (Amy Adams), which carries with us throughout the film as it shows she's a college professor and a highly trained linguist. When the alien spacecraft begins to appear, Forrest Whitaker, who maybe smiles once in the entire film, asks her to be a part of the team that is trying to decipher these creatures and what their presence on Earth means. So Dr. Banks and scientist Ian Donnelly (Jeremy Renner) are granted access with a few others and attempt to speak to the extraterrestrials directly. The results are surprising.
Foolishly I waited until a plane ride to watch Villenueve's last feature Sicario, which would've easily made my top five from last year. Whenever I go to the movies, I always ask was it the right choice for the filmmakers to bring this story to the big screen, and for three times now the answer has been yes. Prisoners was a terrifying character study on how far a father could be pushed to find his daughter. Sicario was the tale of how far an FBI agent could be pushed while witnessing the crushing corruption pervading her surroundings. At a debut PG-13, Villenueve is putting the intensity away in favor of a quiet, reflective sci-fi, something Rod Serling would've bought front-row tickets for me. We don't see the stock wave of people flooding the streets, screaming that the end is nigh. The film's perspective primarily lies with Banks, so nearly everything we see comes from her POV. One of the greatest talents Hollywood has been blessed with, Adams is utterly compelling to watch, ditching movie star moments like in Enchanted and American Hustle for a more intimate character exploration. How freaked out would you be if you got to be the one who communicated with the first ever alien life forms? Adams makes it believable, and though it's a smaller role than we expect to see from the A-list Renner, he pulls it off just fine.The special effects, in a movie where the special effects aren't supposed to be the focus, are excellent. The pace is deliberately slow, as, I would contend, a rebellion against sci-fi movies we get these days that operate at a breakneck pace. Arrival slows everything down. It's the anti-Independence Day 2, and instead of the Passengers trailer, it does much more showing than telling. It's an exploration into heady topics, and a film worth a second view down the road (or if you're a superfan, the next day). I can't wait to fully sink my teeth into Arrival later, but it's unique, original and rewarding cinema, and I'm perfectly happy we've arrived at this point
for the time being.
Rating: 3/4 stars
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