"Arrival" is a well-directed, thought-provoking film about understanding extra terrestrial life.

Rating: 9/10 (23 March 2017)

"Arrival" is directed by Denis Villeneuve and stars Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, and Forest Whitaker, and when alien spacecrafts touch down on Earth, Louise, played by Amy Adams, is asked by the US government to interpret and understand why and what they are doing here.
Don't go into "Arrival" expecting crazy action scenes and explosions. Though this is an alien invasion movie, it is a film that is grounded and winds up being a character study. We learn a lot about Amy Adams as a character (No bathtub scenes in this one). we learn about her troubled past, and we see how she acts when she feels the government starts to take too much control. She did a fantastic job in these scenes, and the entire cast did a very good job as well.
Tension in this film is very well presented. Though there are no action scenes, you feel as if the aliens could attack at any second, or the humans could attack at any second. It is very well realized. Almost any time a human enters the alien spacecraft it is presented in a way in which you feel like something bad is going to happen, and I really give the film props for that.
This movie is so well shot and well directed. Denis Villeneuve keeps proving himself as a director. Each shot in this film has a purpose. They way certain scenes are shot really help to ratchet up this tension that is presented in these scenes as well. The creature designs did kind of bother me but it's only a small nitpick. The aliens look like giant squids. That's basically all I can say about them.
Now let's talk about the third act of the film. The third act of the film really makes you question the entire thing. There's a big revelation at the end, a plot twist in other words, and it really makes you wonder. There are some things that are glossed over in this third act, as it seemed a bit more focused on trying to be clever and smart, which it was. But this twist just seemed to come out of left field. It definitely didn't hinder the movie. It's a twist that makes you think long and hard. I have had multiple discussions with co-workers who have seen the film and some of them can't even figure out what the film was about. It's a film you really have to study, and this third act may detract some viewers. If there are people who don't really like sci-fi and are watching this film and then the twist happens, they may not understand it. I think it's a twist left open for many interpretations, and the film does a good job of selling that, but really doesn't answer some of the other questions it presents in its first two-thirds that you may have had. There were definitely some things that could have been explored more.
I am going to give "Arrival" a 9.2/10