Oh-so-worthy sci-fi bore

Rating: 4/10 (27 August 2017)

ARRIVAL is one of those 'worthy' science fiction films that have been the rage since Spielberg made CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND back in 1977. This one's a bit like CONTACT, but nowhere near as good. Instead it feels turgid and surprisingly small-scale given the magnitude of the events depicted. An irritatingly wholesome Amy Adams plays a grieving mother tasked with communicating with aliens on their newly-arrived spaceships alongside a wasted Jeremy Renner. The aliens are ripped off from MONSTERS. Nothing much happens and there doesn't seem to be much linking between individual scenes which play out with a tired air of predictability. The worst thing about it? The non-acting, which reduces things down to a level of trivial insignificance.