Directed by:
Denis VilleneuveScreenplay:
Eric HeissererCinematography:
Bradford YoungComposer:
Jóhann JóhannssonCast:
Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Forest Whitaker, Michael Stuhlbarg, Tzi Ma, Mark O'Brien, Joe Cobden, Russell Yuen, Nathaly Thibault, Pat Kiely, Julian Casey (more)VOD (4)
Plots(1)
When mysterious spacecraft touch down across the globe, an elite team - led by expert linguist Louise Banks - is brought together to investigate. As mankind teeters on the verge of global war, Banks and the team race against time for answers - and to find them, she will take a chance that could threaten her life, and quite possibly humanity. (Roadshow Entertainment)
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Reviews (19)
I would never have believed that a sci-fi film could say more about the nature of people in general than the hundreds of other psychological films that have graced cinema screens. This a cinema event with capital E, I've been waiting for sci-fi like this since Zemeckis's excellent Contact in 1997. And at the same time it's a litmus test of our population, whether you're idiots (like the guys two rows behind me, who spent the whole movie making jokes and unknowingly poking fun at their own idiocy) or sensitive people who can appreciate something like this. And Amy Adams is awesome.
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Denis Villeneuve is a decent director who tries out different genres (hopefully horror or action will come soon). I liked how the film is quite realistic, the atmosphere of the first hour is nicely unsettling, the acting trio of Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner and Forest Whitaker are great. Unfortunately I found the finale rather unsatisfying, unengaging and emotionally cold. I was also hoping that the aliens would be less friendly. 70%
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A monumental, reflective, humanistic, moving sci-fi film. Exactly what Interstellar desperately wanted to be, but failed to achieve. Arrival is not without its minor issues, about which I may write later (IMHO, the way the script addresses the communication between the different world teams during the research is a little confusing), but the goosebumps at the end overcome all that.
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Especially as an admirer of Denis Villeneuve, I regret that, in my opinion, Arrival stutters a little in the narrative
entwinement of its two storylines. Louise’s life melodrama is powerful and the movie uses it to relay a more meaningful and tangible philosophical message than all other sci-fi movies from recent years (including the similarly intimate Gravity
and Nolan’s bombastic brainless spectacle). This storyline won’t let you keep your eyes dry. But its interaction with the
scientific thriller storyline about communication with aliens, whose purpose is to spur the viewer’s curiosity, bogs down
in the last third. And not just because of the unnecessary, distracting detours, such as a group of rebel soldiers attacking
an alien ship, but by failing to successfully combine the two narrative planes that are supposed to perfectly complement
each other and knock out viewers by making some powerful point in climax. On the first viewing, I didn’t find the point
all that breathtaking, while on the second viewing I, quite paradoxically, enjoyed Louise’s visions more as I knew what
they meant thanks to prior knowledge of the ending. Neither of the viewings, though, brought me the emotional and
intellectual ecstasy described by most of my fellow reviewers and which I’d frankly like to experience. The soundtrack and atmosphere are incredible, and Amy Adams is fantastic.
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This is the best film in about the last five years. It’s terse, brisk, clever, and in many ways bold. The best thing about it is that the sci-fi storyline is much less important than the personal one. I hardly need to see it 3 more times to appreciate the unique picture-sound interplay and award the editor a couple of golden statuettes. After it was over, I stood in the flying snow, wanting to do a lot of things, but then I realized that the best thing to do was to just let myself drift through the incredible flurry of all kinds of feelings. I've truly been waiting for a movie like this for years.
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