A well-paced sci-fi with a lackluster payoff

Rating: 6/10 (25 November 2016)

The Arrival is a film I was very excited to see. Villeneuve's past 3 films have been solid films that I enjoyed quite a bit with my favorite being Prisoners. I am glad that he goes back to the weird twists that Enemy has with this one but they don't quite hit home to me like Enemy.
The film is very very slow and methodical in it's pacing, and while it may seem like it drags on at points, I never felt bored with the film. My intrigue only grew as the movie progressed and you started to see progress in both story lines. I was glad that they focused on the human aspect and stayed away from any kind of alien action sequences.
The slow discovery of the film reminds me very much of 2001 A Space Odyssey as I've seen many other reviews stating and it's a very similar film. Many movies nowadays fail to deliver discovery/mystery in a way like this.
Now everything in the movie is put together in a great way but the whole payoff for the aliens and their purpose and how integral Adams is to everything just isn't that great. The twist hit home really well but once it is revealed you put all the pieces in place fairly quickly if you were paying attention and the film drops the ball by not throwing a few more.
Overall it's a gorgeous film with wonderful pacing. I may be acting like an adrenaline junky by requesting more twists but I feel the buildup could've allowed for a little more to the ending.