REVIEW #126 Arrival (2016)

Arrival is a sci-fi thriller directed by Dennis Villeneuve and the film follows Louise Banks, a linguistics expert, as she is tasked with interpreting the language of aliens that have mysteriously landed on Earth. 

CAST & THE ACTING 

Amy Adam’s leads the cast as Louise Banks and she delivers a stellar performance. The way she portrays her character as she slowly becomes obsessed with discovering the message the extra terrestrial visitors are trying to communicate, is simply excellent. Her performance was fundamental for the psychological impact of the storyline, so full credit to her. She was supported by Jeremy Renner who plays Ian Donnelly and it was interesting to see him in such a contrasting role to where I’ve seen him before. He plays a physicist and Ian is a rather timid character that Renner pulls off really well. The pair clearly had great chemistry and they created a really nice partnership that was integral to the plot. Forest Whitaker is probably the only other big name that appears in the film and it’s more of the same from him, with his role of Colonel Weber being very similar to many of his other recognisable roles. The acting across the entire cast was so convincing and they done really well to give this sci-fi a strong sense of realism. 

PLOT & THE STORYLINE 

The film is a sci-fi thriller but it could actually be argued that it’s also a psychological thriller because the twist really plays with your mind and gets you questioning what it is you have just watched. That isn’t a criticism, I absolutely love it when a film plays with my mind like that! I had seen tremendous reviews for Arrival and I was curious as to how a film about aliens landing on earth could leave such an impression on people because it’s not often a storyline about aliens impresses most critics. However the premise is that aliens have landed and the United States Military hire Dr Louise Banks and Ian Donnelly to study the aliens and to interpret the aliens language so they could understand the message they were trying to give. The whole story centres around decoding this alien language and doesn’t involved any action at all, which is a really interesting take and the film is all the better for it. However if you’re a person who doesn’t really like slower, more complex films then I understand how this could be a little too slow paced for some. As time goes on we slowly work towards the big twist, piece by piece you begin to understand what’s going on and we take that journey of discovery with the lead character Louise. So a really gripping and interesting storyline. 

CINEMATOGRAPHY & SPECIAL EFFECTS 

The biggest compliment I can give to Arrival in this category is that everything looked unbelievably realistic, it’s like they actually used footage from a real alien landing. On top of that, the film creates some absolutely beautiful visuals! The inside of that alien spaceship was kept so simple, yet it looked amazing. Dennis Villeneuve knows how to create realistic sci-fis that’s for sure! There was also a great musical score for the film from Jóhann Jóhannsson which tied up the scenes really nicely. The only criticism I can think of is that the pacing dropped off in some of the scenes but I would expect that with this sort of storyline. Villeneuve and Bradford Young (the cinematographer) we’re smart with their choice to use the smokescreen inside the alien ship, this created a sense of mystery around what the aliens really looked like and it also meant that the small glimpses we did see could be developed to look super realistic, as I mentioned above. So another great performance in this category. 

OVERALL (9/10)

I was late in watching Arrival but I’m so glad I did, it doesn’t seem to have many faults at all. The acting is great, with Amy Adam’s delivering a fantastic performance and Renner doing a great job in the supporting role. Despite there being no action at all, the plot is still very gripping and it had me hooked the entire time, it was so intriguing and the twist really plays with your mind, which I loved! There are some beautiful visuals and the cinematography and effects are outstanding, Villeneuve seems to always understand the assignment when it comes to creating believable sci-fi films! The pacing does get a little slow at times, so I could understand how some viewers who need a bit of excitement to keep their interest could get a little bored. However if you’re a fan of complex and thought provoking storylines, you will love Arrival. So I would definitely recommend watching it if you haven’t already.

Thanks for reading. 

Callan