Finally- a science fiction film that assumes its audience is intelligent.

Rating: 9/10 (7 November 2016)

Denis Villeneuve is a masterful filmmaker who consistently elevates genre pieces, as seen with Sicario and Prisoners, to awe-inspiring heights. Arrival, his first take on the science fiction field, is no exception.
The film is perhaps the most realistic, measured tale of alien invasion yet made. Here is a movie that deals with extraterrestrial contact with probing questions of linguistics and science, rather than displays of violence, sound and fury. Our hero is not a six-pack laden, gun-wielding brusque, but a college lecturer. It is difficult to discuss the movie in depth without spoilers, but the most striking aspect is how impeccably and intricately well-crafted it is. By the end of the film. upon reflection, I staggered out of the cinema marvelling at the sheer craft of the plot, which weaves mammoth intellectual concepts, questions about humanity, human experience, and, in particular, the story of one woman, Amy Adams. The film's plotting works so well as a whole that it's staggering, and this is to a great extent indebted to the editing, which I believe deserves an Academy Award. In a feat only possible in the medium of cinema, the scope of this heady tale is brought alive by complex editing, leading to a rousing finale that is emotionally cathartic. Also of note is the eerie score, truly contributing a sense of necessary awe and perturbation, as well as production design and effects, which are used perfectly to contribute necessary spectacle, but never threaten to usurp the plot itself.
It is because the positives of this film are so great that the negatives don't irk me so much. The weakest aspect of the film, fortunately alleviated by the strength of performances from Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner, is a lack of character development. It's less that I sympathised with these characters and was involved with them particularly, and more that the plot remained so intriguing I was consistently engaged. In the fashion of the similarly cerebral Interstellar, whose Cooper-Murph relationship buttressed its science fiction plot, more character development could've made this excellent film perfect. In addition, there is an unexpected, incredibly corny line towards the end that really annoyed me.
Overall, Arrival was an immensely satisfying and rewarding cinematic experience, I anticipate the movie will have some detractors, possibly because of its lack of action that populates most science fiction films, and a plot that demands your constant attention, but for me it was a thrilling exercise in realistic, grounded sci fi.