The Arrival we've all been waiting for

Rating: 9/10 (2 October 2017)

Any film can have a story filled with drama, action, romance, and intensity, all led by its main protagonists and antagonists significant decisions. Although despite all this, the connection between that story and its audience is the factor that separates a successful film from a mediocre. Thus, the factor Denis Villeneuve's 'Arrival' most prominently possesses. It thoroughly engaged its audience through the journey of Louise Banks (Amy Adams) and her new counter partner, mathematician Ian Donnelly (Jeremy Renner), as they attempt to communicate with the Aliens through their language in order to further understand the meaning behind their sudden arrival upon earth.
Arrival expressed a sense of Drama and Mystery while raising the concern of a disaster always being in potential sight. As many would agree it's unique in its own defence compared to most, if not all Alienated sci-fi flicks, especially in the current era of its sort. Cutting off of the cliché Aliens vs Humanity straight out war, it gives us a different kind of connection to the species at hand. We are never really convinced as to which side they're really on, which gives the film a style of distinct excitement. Director Denis Villeneuve and screenwriter Eric Heisserer did a terrific job with this masterpiece as they truly captured the absolute attention of their audience. This was most notably through answering a question that was never asked and finishing a puzzle many would assume was solved, as they're made to realize they were actually missing a piece the whole time. This strategy is used through the connection between Louise Banks and her motherhood, which gave the film a sense of suspense and intensity it would most likely not be the same without.
Films Pros:
-Superb direction by Denis Villeneuve as he brings his unique artistic imagination to the screen, creating the sense of dramatic intensity and puzzlement that turned the film into the stunning visual success it became.
-Spot on Cinematography from Bradford Young as the shady and gloomy image he created set the perfect tone and rhythm for the film, almost flawlessly from start to finish. In the end earning him an undeniably well-deserved Oscar nomination for his efforts.
-Amazing score from Jóhann Jóhannsson. The Icelandic composer flawlessly complemented each scene that he filled with his glorious soundtrack, as it helped express the films tone upon the setting and circumstance its characters were confronting, whilst setting the current state of emotion for viewers, unquestionably touching many of them as well.
-Captivating performance from Amy Adams as per usual, also strongly followed by her peers, most notably from Jeremy Renner and Forest Whitaker.
-Stunning visual effects as the Heptapods distinctive structure along with their egg-shaped alien craft were brought to life in an exquisite fashion.
-And last but not least, Eric Heisserer's adaptation of Ted Chiang's original novel 'Story of my life' was structured phenomenally. Most significantly when it transitioned from the present moment into quick flashes of memory, which was what I personally thought was a grand achievement in itself.
Films Con/s:
-The process of formulating the aliens language could had been visually betrayed in more of a first person manner, as at times it definitely seemed very rushed, leaving viewers in slight wonder as to whether the translation process is really that hard.
From all of this, Arrival's boundless outcome was clearly obvious as it pays homage to the alien genre without even getting caught up in many clichés, proving its uniqueness. Its gloomy and exciting mystery gives fans the inside look and dramatic sci-fi experience like never before, displaying the limits that a visual sci-fi masterpiece should take in order to become successful.
My personal rating: 8.7/10