Entertaining but by no means a masterpiece

Rating: 7/10 (17 March 2017)

Arrival has a very intriguing premise, great cinematography, and a performance by Amy Adams that should have garnered Oscar consideration.
However, it is by no means the masterpiece some are painting it to be. This is not the "thinking man's" philosophical movie that some ascribe it to be. The conflicts in the movie are face value and do not carry much moral weight. Yes, the movie hints at the idea of determinism, but it does not flesh this concept out whatsoever.
In regards to the movie itself, Arrival has a very interesting and unique premise. Through beginning the movie with that essentially happens at the end a circular progression of events is created to parallel the circular language and depiction of time that is so frequently stressed in the movie. The musical scores are quite good as are the effects and the views. From this alone, the movie is passable to sit through.
The greatest sin of this movie is its unfulfilled potential. The plot is not very well fleshed out. Any true conflicts within the movie are extremely base and unrealistic. The main threat is the compulsiveness of China and Russia, a common movie trope here in the states. Future threats to mankind and the alien race are alluded to but not explained. Twelve alien ships came with a "gift". The gift is the language the aliens speak that allows you to see time. However, this is seemingly only passed onto and fully understood by Louise, leaving a lot to be desired. Furthermore, there is no real character development for anyone besides Louise, the linguistics professor played by Amy Adams. The next closest character to gaining any substance is Ian, a physicist played by Jeremy Renner, who in the end only serves as a glorified narrator.
Overall, it is an entertaining movie but certainly not Villeneuve's "mangum opus" as some are calling it. His work with Prisoners was much more complete as a movie.