ARRIVAL (2016) FILM REVIEW

​*****
12A, 116 Mins

​Amy Adams shines in this touching, terrifically thought-provoking, thinking-person’s Sci-Fi blockbuster.

​You’re probably all absolutely sick of hearing critics ranting raucously about the declining state of mainstream cinema. It’s unsurprising if you’ve been finger-tallying the number of aggressive articles thrashing big-budget popcorn fare for “dumbing down” into a CGI-cluttered orgy of shrapnel-blasting sequels, prequels and reboots. Film-makers such as Michael Bay, Brett Ratner and Zack Snyder certainly give critics all the more reason for bashing every blockbuster costing over $100 million due to their head-banging lack of soul and sense.
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Given the agonising lack of creativity in shiny studio productions, it’s always treat when each year comes out with at least one expensive gem which - amongst all the Batmans, Supermans and Transformers – reminds audiences of the escapist magic of mainstream movies  combined with the notion that it is entirely possible for flashy special effects to co-exist with thoughtful, intelligent themes.

This has never felt truer than with ‘Arrival’ – unquestionable, astonishing, physical proof of the inventive potential of blockbuster cinema in the right hands.
Directed by French-Canadian film-maker Denis Villeneuve (‘Prisoner’ (2013), ‘Sicario’ (2015)) and adapted from Ted Chiang’s popular Sci-Fi short story ‘Story of Your Life’, ‘Arrival’ sees Amy Adams take on the role of University Linguists lecturer Dr. Louise Banks whose outstanding language work is called for by the US Army when 12 Alien spacecrafts land in different locations across the planet. The UN is on edge puzzling over whether these extra-terrestrials pose a significant threat. However Banks believes that the Aliens are here rather to deliver a message to humankind and encoding such a message could be the answer to human relations with non-earthly species.

‘Arrival’ may share the concept of about a dozen “Alien Invasion” movies, but ‘Independence Day’ (1996) this most certainly isn’t. Whereas most mainstream fare would blast  spacecrafts into oblivion, ‘Arrival’ prefers fascinating, quiet human-alien interactions. Like Christopher Nolan’s ‘Interstellar’ (2014) and Ridley Scott’s ‘The Martian’ (2015), ‘Arrival’ has all the hallmarks of old-fashioned “serious Sci-Fi” – the kind of cerebral blend of real-world philosophy and fantasy that defined the genre before the coming of ‘Star Wars’ (1977) turned it into something altogether more kitschy.

There’s a quietly tense, nail-biting edge to the film that recalls the sinister Cold War paranoia of 50s Sci-Fi classics like ‘The Day The Earth Stood Still’ (1951) and ‘The War of the Worlds’ (1953)- which here feel ever more relevant to today’s society with the US’s uneasy relationship with China and North Korea. Yet ‘Arrival’ avoids feeling cold and somewhat distant as many such films do; as it comes underpinned with something of the warm Spielbergian sentiment of ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’ (1977), ‘E.T’ (1982) and – arguably the film’s spiritual cousin – Robert Zemeckis’s ‘Contact’ (1997).

In the central role, Amy Adams delivers the game-changing performance of her career as Dr. Louise Banks. Ever since the days of ‘Alien’ (1979), the Sci-Fi genre has felt fiercely feministic and ‘Arrival’ is no exception to this. Adams’s Banks is a feminist icon for the modern age. She may not be as macho and gung-ho as Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley, but Banks has the kind of spectacularly sharp intellect, cautious curiosity and mother-daughter instinct of Jodie Foster’s Ellie Arroway from ‘Contact’ and Jessica Chastain’s Murph Cooper from ‘Interstellar’. Like those films, ‘Arrival’ plays on the leading lady’s inner feelings to provide a link to solving the story’s existential themes.

The importance of language and communication undoubtedly forms the crux of the film. However there’s a surreal yet refreshingly spiritual undercurrent of maternal love to be found here too- not least in Banks’s dreamy, poetic visions of her own relationship with her young daughter (an ingenious plot twist that comes on late in the film). Yet Banks’s visual hallucinations largely serve as a reminder to the viewer of the character’s own interactions with the Alien species that have landed upon the planet. The scenes involving Adams’s Banks making communication with the octopus-like creatures ooze with something of a muted, heart-melting metaphor for a parent’s role in the socialisation of their own child.

Such fuzzy sentimentality always runs the risk of feeling slushy and trite in any film. However- in the hands of Director Villeneuve – the film’s more sugary elements feel not only balanced against its weightier themes, but lend the film an endearingly human touch. Of course, none of this would be possible without Adam’s extraordinary commitment to the lead role. Adams provides the rousing emotional connection required to build the bridge between state-of the-art spectacle and visionary ideas. The fact that the OSCARS chose to overlook her in the Best Actress category only emphasises their snobbery.

The last few years have certainly suggested Denis Villeneuve as a film-maker to watch. He put an atmospheric, morally murky spin on the psychological thriller with 2013’s ‘Prisoners’ and delivered a hard-edged take on the War on Drugs with 2015’s ‘Sicario’. Now ‘Arrival’ arrives to cement the up-and-coming director’s status as a modern cinematic auteur. To think that Villeneuve’s next visionary project is 2017’s hugely-anticipated, long-gestating Sci-Fi sequel ‘Bladerunner: 2049’ causes me hell of a lot of giddy excitement!

‘Arrival’ is more than just the most intelligent and heartfelt venture into Sci-Fi cinema in recent years. It also puts to shame any meat-headed crowd-pleaser that attempts to suggest that populist entertainment thrives on incoherence.
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With it’s mouth-watering, sleepily elegant cinematography from Bradford Young and Johan Johansson’s sweetly poignant score that pulls every single heartstring, this is a gorgeous, sweeping, softly beautiful odyssey of a movie that makes any film fanatic realize the wondrous art of their passion. It's been a long time since a “blockbuster” has lived up to that term. In every sense of such a word, ‘Arrival’ truly does.