3 out of 5

Directed by: Denis Villeneuve

The silence – or I suppose the sound design – effected in Arrival, and its subsequently gripping impact on the viewer, is astounding; as with Interstellar (opinions on the film itself aside), we have a director with some clout given the green light to put art up on the big screen, and on enough screens for many to see.  So I can sit and watch a flick that’s flavored more like an indie (Another Earth came to mind) with, say, my parents, without the restlessness that a movie without an superhero in it, and without ‘oh I read about this in my only-parents-read-this newspaper’ buzz unfortunately ascribes to it just due to lacking the above.  And that is valuable.  I love seeing stuff like this get attention – stuff that leaves some open ends and doesn’t have an American flag affixed or a franchise backing – and it’s further buoyed by its all–around stand out quality: Jeremy Renner and Amy Adams are perfect; the editing masterfully implies; director Villeneuve milks a terrifically tense mood from minimalist settings and design; the dialogue – with some minor exceptions – is very respectful of the audience’s intelligence in communicating some complex linguistic ideas; and though I will express some criticisms regarding this, Eric Heisser’s script is a fantastic expansion on a short story source, smartly finding a way to expand the scope (and offer some big screen booms) without betraying the main themes.

So I want to make it clear: Arrival is an excellent film, both in overall execution and audience engagement.

Now, some things to consider.  I called the film open-ended, but that doesn’t mean there’s actually much to think about.  I’m not an old man by any means, but old enough to be able to roll my eyes (or try not to roll my eyes…) at the philosophic quandaries of the youth; the Why Are We Here questions that I, too, was guilty of asking and pondering at 3am in diners, grumbling at the older folk rolling their eyes at me.  Now, ya gotta ask this stuff as a crucible to headier thinks; the material that has fueled some of the most timeless sci-fi and fiction around.  And people are still coming up with great ways to represent such concepts.  But Arrival isn’t that – it’s the 3am diner version.  Having read some of Heisser’s comic book work, I’d be tempted to say that that’s inherent in his take on the question(s…, I guess) posed here, but Villeneuve furthermore does those questions no favors by not imbuing the extras padded into the story (the military intervention; a pending escalation of events) with any weight.  The stakes are never felt, and I think intuitive viewers can get a sense of where things are going before we get there, which makes a lot of the filmic conventions – specifically the way Villeneuve dramatizes them – feel very slight.  The end of the movie especially suffers from twist fatigue, playing things more cagily when it would’ve been more interesting to dig into the psychology even deeper.

And in a lesser (rated by the elements in my initial praise) film, this would really matter, but I was undeniably invested thanks to all the good stuff, able to note my criticisms from a remove.

Best viewed as a triple header with the 1996 and 1998 The Arrival 1 and 2.