Arrival
released 2016
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“Arrival” released in 2016 is an American, sci-fi, drama directed by Denis Villeneuve and produced by Shawn Levy, Dan Levine, Aaron Rider and David Linde. (This film should not be confused with the 1996 film called “The Arrival” which was a somewhat ok film but nowhere near as good as this film is). It was written by Eric Heisserer and Ted Chiang. It is based on the short story written by Ted Chiang called “The Story Of Your Life”. “Arrival” stars a talented group which includes Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Forest Whitaker, Michael Stuhlbarg, Mark O´Brien, Tzi Ma, Abigail Pniowsky, Julia Scarlet Dan, Jadyn Malone, Frank Shorpion, Frank Fiola, Karen Belfo, Abdul Ayoola, Russell Yen, Ruth Chiang, Larry Day, Mark Camacho, Sonia Vineault, Lucas Chariter-Dessert, Brittany Teo and many others. It rightfully recieved many awards and was lauded by critics and viewers alike. This is truly a fantastic film and a must see.

Arrival IMDb webpage

“Arrival” is the story of linguist Louise Banks, played by Amy Adams, who is recruited by the military to communicate with aliens from another world. Twelve alien spacecrafts have come to Earth with each one at a different location on the planet. The ruling bodies of the world don´t know what intentions the aliens have or what to do about the situation so they naturally prepare for war. If this sounds banal it is anything but. Amy and her crew summon the courage to meet with these beings and then she starts to figure out their mode of communication because it is not with any language we know and they don´t even use math to communicate. They do all this with the military pressure to attack looming ever closer.

Let me start by saying that “Arrival” is in my top ten best sci-fi films of all time because it´s that good. Yes it deserves a place near greats like “Blade Runner” and the “Star Trek” franchise. You see the sci-fi genre has become very stale as of late. To counteract this the movie houses make movies for a younger audience who really don´t know a good story for the most part and will love anything with fancy technology and explosions. So, movies like “Arrival” are a breath of fresh air in a genre that is going stale fast. This story will definitely appeal to a more intellectual audience too.

Some of the elements that make this a great film are the aliens. They are strange and mysterious but they are not bumbling, sadistic or stereotypical aliens like in so many cheesy sci-fi films. The unravelling of the mystery that is the alien´s reason for their visit is also well done. I found the reasons for the alien´s visit and their motivations to be very realistic. I liked them the way you´d like people. Another important thing to mention is how good the main character was. Louis Banks was such a good hero for the movie and of course the fact that she was prepared for her role in the alien contact made her an interesting part of the mystery too.

I really can´t praise this movie enough. It was so well done and definitely worth the watch. “Arrival” is one of the best sci-fi films ever made and I don´t say that lightly.

Written by John

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