It is not an academic essay or an important scientific research, it is just a flat sci-fi drama

Rating: 4/10 (30 September 2017)

Arrival is a flat, stagnant and pretty uninspiring sci-fi drama with clichés throughout. If you are a science fiction fan or having an interest in alien invasion movies, it is a little possibility that you will be pleased and satisfied, because this film is not about aliens or the world society's reactions after the possibility of an alien invasion. It is more about communication, language barrier, linguistics etc. but it fails to deliver its messages and themes because of several flaws. All those posters and trailers evoke a mystery, suspense and little action, but the film's point is pretty different. We have a main character who is a go-getter type of a woman, she is talented, determined, an alpha female which is another cliché, but that's OK. Cliché casting choices? Never mind. Her character has also a sad background which is an emotional exploitation of the audience! The movie asks some important questions about life, death, future and past, our destiny and the words we speak, but it focuses on a few characters and doesn't care about the rest. The real flaw of this film is that the story becomes too personal after a while which is another famous cliché and unavoidable fate of blockbuster movies: the chosen one! I have a problem with the aliens in this movie. The envisagement of them is uninspiring. They look like giant octopuses and sometimes they feel like they are pets. I call this Transformers syndrome, because since the creators of these creatures are humans, they think like a human which causes a creativity problem in this movies such as a robot with beard and cigar or an octopus-like alien etc. The film also deals with Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis, but this is not a comprehensive academic essay, a documentary or an important scientific study on linguistics, this is just a sci-fi drama, that's why I believe that it is overrated. Arrival has some statements about war and peace, unity and solidarity, but it is not effective and it drops a few plot holes into the story. The editing of the movie is smart, honestly brilliant, but no more than that. Arrival is not a thought-provoking or a very deep film, is it? These movies such as Arrival, The Fountain etc. don't reveal the secret of universe or the meaning of life. By the way, Arrival is not an action film definitely and I didn't have such an expectation. I knew that this movie wouldn't be like Independence Day, but this is not the point. The movie fails to deliver panic, chaos, suspense and paranoia well thanks to the script or low budget, I have no idea about that.