Expertly crafted. Villeneuve is a master at emotional depth. I was so enveloped by the film that I couldn't help but get seriously emotional throughout the movie. Darkly lit cinematography mixed with GORGEOUS film score. It's honestly pretty flawless.
Beautiful-ish visually, emotionally affecting, and fascinating for its simplification of some fairly abstract ideas, but Arrival is mostly to be praised for the questions it poses and for its insistence on unity -- and above all, communication.
Nonetheless, something about it ends up feeling empty. The main character is given a "root for them" device but little else. No one else seems to have so much as an idea of who they are beyond useful plot devices. It's hard to say how to get around that without bogging down the film.
It's a fascinating and wholly enjoyable ride, and certainly a treat to see the philosophical side of sci-fi after the mildly underwhelming Interstellar. But it's not perfect - though maybe that's the point.
Arrival is equal parts Contact and Interstellar (if the latter wasn't so condescending), a first contact procedural starring Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner, a linguist/scientist duo who must figure what what the truly alien visitors want. Adams is particularly strong as a woman haunted by the death of a child, a memory we often return to and which (sometimes mysteriously) holds clues to understanding the aliens. To its credit, the film's structure and the aliens' language have something in common, which is pleasantly thematic, but it also means the movie switches tracks in the third act and becomes something else. It does so intelligently, and it's not unearned, but I did come out of it with a certain measure of ambivalence. Perhaps I was more interested in the slow-paced, but nevertheless tense, procedural aspects of the story.
By the middle of the film I was feeling kind of let down and wasn't expecting much of a twist from other sci fi flicks I've seen with similar elements (such as The Day The Earth Stood Still). But after the second half developes and things start getting more significance I felt completely blown away and so touched. I'm amazed by the way Villenueve lead us to the place we got by the end. To add the obvious, Amy Adams was beyond amazing, as usual.
This film is fitting with everything that's going on right now. I was pleasantly surprised with the turning point of the story and the cinematography is stunning!
Aliens have landed and the governments of the World are preparing for war. You start to think this is going where every other 'Alien landing' movie has gone before. And then it doesn't.
Finally, a thought provoking, heart-string tugging, beautiful alien movie that keeps you captivated right up to the final credits.
Just finished watching, in short; tricky and perplexing film. Inception meets Interstellar meets Prometheus. Not sure what I think yet. Definitely beautiful though.
I can't remember watching a movie and being so utterly desperate for the lighting to not be so dark. It's enough to make you feel like your vision is slowly failing the more you watch and even the daylight scenes are purposely darkened. It's very difficult to care about or invest yourself into something when you're looking at a black screen. This movie thinks it's far more clever than it is and didn't pack the punch I was hoping for. The twists and turns are incredibly self-serving and not crafted with any pizazz. Villeneuve is under the impression that as long as the movie has a twist then that means it's automatically good, but that's not the case. It's called the "M. Night Shyamalan effect."
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God
○ ၁ ܘ ଠ ◌ ◎ օ ⚪ ◜◝ ပ ◦ ◯ ဂ ѻ ❍ ဖ Ⱒ Ο ∘ ⌕ င ᴑ ⌾ ⍜ ⏀ 〇 ࿀ ⭕ Ⱉ ⍜ ℺ 〄 ⃘translation: great movie
TomServo
The rare modern sci-fi movie that can actually be called "beautiful."The_Comatorium
Expertly crafted. Villeneuve is a master at emotional depth. I was so enveloped by the film that I couldn't help but get seriously emotional throughout the movie. Darkly lit cinematography mixed with GORGEOUS film score. It's honestly pretty flawless.I have to see it again.
frankqb
Beautiful-ish visually, emotionally affecting, and fascinating for its simplification of some fairly abstract ideas, but Arrival is mostly to be praised for the questions it poses and for its insistence on unity -- and above all, communication.Nonetheless, something about it ends up feeling empty. The main character is given a "root for them" device but little else. No one else seems to have so much as an idea of who they are beyond useful plot devices. It's hard to say how to get around that without bogging down the film.
It's a fascinating and wholly enjoyable ride, and certainly a treat to see the philosophical side of sci-fi after the mildly underwhelming Interstellar. But it's not perfect - though maybe that's the point.
4 stars out of 5
heat_
wow, villeneuve won't be able to shoot anything mediocre anymore. arrival raises the bar way too high. excellent sci-fi.dajmasta94
Fantastic! Villeneuve does it again. REAL sci-fi that is interesting and profoundly beautiful.Siskoid
Arrival is equal parts Contact and Interstellar (if the latter wasn't so condescending), a first contact procedural starring Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner, a linguist/scientist duo who must figure what what the truly alien visitors want. Adams is particularly strong as a woman haunted by the death of a child, a memory we often return to and which (sometimes mysteriously) holds clues to understanding the aliens. To its credit, the film's structure and the aliens' language have something in common, which is pleasantly thematic, but it also means the movie switches tracks in the third act and becomes something else. It does so intelligently, and it's not unearned, but I did come out of it with a certain measure of ambivalence. Perhaps I was more interested in the slow-paced, but nevertheless tense, procedural aspects of the story.ivanrs
By the middle of the film I was feeling kind of let down and wasn't expecting much of a twist from other sci fi flicks I've seen with similar elements (such as The Day The Earth Stood Still). But after the second half developes and things start getting more significance I felt completely blown away and so touched. I'm amazed by the way Villenueve lead us to the place we got by the end. To add the obvious, Amy Adams was beyond amazing, as usual.catherinefrances
This film is fitting with everything that's going on right now. I was pleasantly surprised with the turning point of the story and the cinematography is stunning!chunkylefunga
Decent, but not a revolutionary masterpiece as so many so called critics are saying.jmars
Arrivalor, Two Hours in Amy Adams' Head
TheOnlyRogueAngel
Aliens have landed and the governments of the World are preparing for war. You start to think this is going where every other 'Alien landing' movie has gone before. And then it doesn't.Finally, a thought provoking, heart-string tugging, beautiful alien movie that keeps you captivated right up to the final credits.
Angellike
Just finished watching, in short; tricky and perplexing film. Inception meets Interstellar meets Prometheus. Not sure what I think yet. Definitely beautiful though.GhostKnight
beautiful and topicalDisneyStitch
I can't remember watching a movie and being so utterly desperate for the lighting to not be so dark. It's enough to make you feel like your vision is slowly failing the more you watch and even the daylight scenes are purposely darkened. It's very difficult to care about or invest yourself into something when you're looking at a black screen. This movie thinks it's far more clever than it is and didn't pack the punch I was hoping for. The twists and turns are incredibly self-serving and not crafted with any pizazz. Villeneuve is under the impression that as long as the movie has a twist then that means it's automatically good, but that's not the case. It's called the "M. Night Shyamalan effect."Showing items 1 – 15 of 50