Best of the (fairly rare) "smart" sci fi forks...

Rating: 10/10 (19 November 2016)

To this reviewer, there are two kinds of sci fi.
The common type dates back to Buck Rogers and has more modern iterations in Star Trek and Star Wars. Action and mayhem.
The other type, the "smart" or intellectual type, is harder to classify. It has been around forever but appears and disappears randomly. Consider the DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL (1951/2008) or CUBE (1997) or the more recent MARTIAN (2015).
The second type is an oddity because most of the heavy lifting takes place in your brain, not on the screen.
I consider ARRIVAL the best example of the "Smart" genre ever done.
These films, because they are so subjective, require a central character that the viewer can identify with. Ms. Adams deserves special merit for picking this film up and carrying it to the finish line.
A must see, for fans of "smart" scifi.