Arrival

Rating: 8/10 (26 November 2016)

Having now seen three of Denis Villeneuve's films on the big screen (Incendies, Sicario and now Arrival), I hope I do not repeat myself, or my other reviews when I say this, but he is definitely a director who is completely aware and knows how to perfectly arouse and set the viewer's senses to an almost stunned, or at least a very kind of awe inspiring emotion that is completely generated and fuelled by the powerful emotion and power that his films so masterfully play within us with our emotions and senses of vision and hearing. There are some scenes in Arrival, one scene in particular very early in the film where the three main characters are suited up in their protective suits and are investigating a mysterious pod and looking to see what the contents are inside of it and what, or who it represents. The scene sounds ordinary, or simple enough I do admit. However with Villeneuve's slow motion camera and the powerful musical accompaniment of Johann Johannsson's powerful score, the scene is anything but. As we get closer to investigating this pod and what, or who may be inside, I could feel a feeling of tension building up inside of me and I generally felt suspense and also a riveting feeling of fascination and curiosity as to what these characters may find. In a sense I also deeply felt a fear of the unknown as I was not sure what these characters would run into, or whether it would be good or bad. The film in this scene in particular had the same masterful power that Sicario did for example at building suspense and creating a feeling of uneasiness and yet at the same time completely transforming us into the events we are witnessing on the screen and allowing us to be every bit a part of them and everything feels so real and life like and it is as if we are not just watching the film, but that we are also a part of it. Like last year's Sicario, Arrival is by no means a suspense, thriller, or horror film in any way. Also most of the film does not have that impending sense of dread, or doom whereas I felt for one that Sicario did. However this scene in Arrival, was so brilliantly done and played on every single part of my senses and emotions that I would have to say that single handedly it was the most powerful and rewarding part of the film for me. Not to say that the film is bad in any way because it is not and while I vastly prefer Incendies and Sicario, to Arrival, I still found a lot of merit and things to compliment the film on and very few faults. The film if one had to classify it would be labelled as science fiction, but this is more a science fiction film where logic and one's emotions and senses play a large part and anyone looking for huge explosions, or massive special effects and action scenes should look elsewhere. Thankfully here Mr. Villeneuve knows how to create a decent science fiction film with a story that actually makes us think and uses smart and gifted people to play and tell the story and we are never at a loss, or bored, or left restless for any lack of action, special effects, or any of the same stuff we see year after year in your typical Summer movie blockbuster. This film is way smarter and better made than all that and it uses real people and situations that come out of real life to create a story that is in some ways quite unbelievable, but in it's own way and with it's precise and persuasive storytelling, we are hooked not only for reasons of sheer interest, but also we now have our emotions invested into the film, so however the film ends we are in it for the long haul. Amy Adams, does a very good job of playing a woman who has had past tragedies in her life that prevent her from finding joy and peace in a lot of ways, but she is also while hesitant about a lot of things, also a very independent person and one who relies on logic and emotions to make her decisions and do what she thinks is right. She is a damaged person in many ways and we see her daily struggles, but we also see that deep down she has the resources and the power to overcome that if she will let it. The supporting performances from Renner, Whitaker and Stuhlbarg are also all good as they are all typically good actors and do fine here as well. I did however find that the film at times lost some of what made it so interesting in it's second half which I didn't find quite as strong as the first and I also found there to be a lot of things that didn't quite add up, or several red herrings, or things that just didn't all come together for me. I wouldn't say that I didn't understand the film, or maybe I should say that some of it I got and other parts just left me puzzled and there was still a lot left unanswered, or that didn't make sense. This proved to be a bit of a problem at times. Still for a modern day science fiction film which is not typically what I would go see, Arrival is better than most and I thank Villeneuve for giving us a thinking person's film and not just more of the same old stuff that we have seen countless times before.