Yeah, this was excellent, and it's stuck with me since I saw it last night. Definitely want to see it again. That said, most audiences are going to leave disappointed. Not really a mainstream movie.

I don't understand the argument that it's not accessible. The movie is emotionally involving and relatively straightforward. Give audiences some credit. I think the end will resonate with anyone who's ever lost someone or had something really bad happen to them. Plus, whoaaa

When a dozen alien spacecrafts descend upon the earth, the U.S. government recruits a linguist (Amy Adams) to decipher their complex language, partnering her with a theoretical physicist (Jeremy Renner). As she mounts her investigation and tries to discover the motive behind the visitation, tension among the population at large and the world's armies intensifies. I am in the minority, but this film, directed with steely technical precision by Denis Villeneuve, did not blow me away. Which it surely intends to: it is a fairly intimate story presented with significant, Christopher Nolan-style bombast, and it is constructed upon a twist with a capital t. The twist is at once neat and frustrating, requiring enormous editorial sleight-of-hand and minimal character development to hide the truth until the overwrought reveal. As much as the music thunders and the film pushes its utopian sentimentality, I found it hard to invest beyond a certain detached procedural interest.

C+

This movie would be more interesting, I feel, if it presented her ability to see into the future more directly...show her discovering it and contending with the question of whether to proceed as foretold or divert. The chosen approach of using clever-cum-deceitful editing to introduce her as a woman who lost her daughter and then crowding the various quandaries and revelations into a melodramatic, flash-forward-laden montage is less intriguing. The film gets it a-ha-Keyser-Söze moment, but at a cost: it creates an emptiness in other parts of the two-hour running time, much of which is filled with the rather dull second-string military/CIA subplot.

Also, she is fine, but I do not believe Amy Adams' performance here is momentous or worthy of Oscar consideration. The flat character does not help. She has given far stronger performances elsewhere.

I don't know... This film just left me cold in general, despite being "impressive" in certain objective ways. I am disappointed. I definitely prefer Contact and Interstellar.

I don't believe you are in the minority. I'm betting that there are many viewers so impressed with the movie's profound and sophisticated central idea of the relationship between time and language, that they are unable to bring themselves to admitting how weak the movie is overall. This review captures that weakness quite nicely.

Did you lock yourself out of your bradley account, if not you can take off your mask now, it's ok

This is magnificent and the best movie so far this year!

I found it utterly transcendent and mesmerizing, like an ethereal work of extraterrestrial beauty.

Amy Adams is an absolutely wonderful actress and a pure damn national treasure, and her work here is proof positive of this.

A

Pretty darn good. I was a little bored at first, but found it fascinating as soon as Amy gets on the ship. Who knew language could be so tense?

I could've done without the Trump voters and their secret bomb subplot. The normal military guys were hostile enough. And while I do like the twist ending, it is fucked up of her to drop that bombshell on Dr. Jeremy Renner halfway through the "journey". That seems unfair, but I guess that might have been the point.

So after having his first film fall apart at the climax, and his second fall apart after about twenty minutes, Dennis Villuneuve has finally made a complete picture. He seems to have a knack for scifi, and that bodes well for the new Blade Runner.

1. Arrival
2. Contact
3. Prometheus
4. Close Encounters
5. Interstellar

For famous "first contact without war" movies.

Think I have to check this out again. Was getting a little weary during it but the last 10 minutes sure brings the film together beautifully.

I saw it today and it was amazing, easily the best movie I have seen this year.

"first"?

Of the ones I've seen. Though I admit I didn't know he had another english film. Demolition seemed like such a throw away movie I never even gave it a second look.

Jesus, dude, so much wrong here, so much wrong.

He didn't direct Demolition, Jean-Marc Vallee did.

all québécois directors are the same

I loved this. I thought it was incredibly thought provoking and important. Beautiful. Amy Adams is fantastic here.

A

As much as I didn't believe this could possibly live up to the HUGE hype surrounding it I'll be the first to say that not since Interstellar have I been so riveted by a sci-fi film. This is just a beautifully done and thought provoking piece of work and while it does treat the characters in a somewhat cold manner it didn't bother me, because I was so captivated by everything else going on. I absolutely loved the atmosphere in this film and the Christopher Nolan inspired score. I'd be really surprised if this didn't atleast get some award noms for the technical aspects like sound design, cinematography etc..

Okay I've calmed down a little bit. Went to see it again and it is still absolutely amazing and beautiful. Everything is firing here: screenplay, editing, directing, sound design and score, acting, cinematography.... it's all gorgeous, thoughtful, and in singular pursuit of telling a timeless story: one of first contact, what it means to communicate, and most importantly, what it means to pursue life and love in spite of the knowledge of death that comes for everyone.

I love the aliens. Everything from the musical theme that plays when we see the ship, to their physical and increasingly personal characterizations, their spoken language, their fourth-dimensional conception of time (hello Slaughterhouse Five) and the written language that springs from it, to the care that they show for humans (granted, somewhat for their own benefit 3000 years hence). And everything about the human response to them, from Louise and Ian's first reactions, to the government's handling of the situation, to the uproar among the population, to the right-wing fear, and the complicating dance as the whole thing seems to turn into an arms race... just felt right, like that's how it would really happen.

And I can see how this might leave someone emotionally cold, but I guess why it works so well for me is the archetypal presentation. Louise is a mother, she loves her child. The decision Louise makes in the end, saying yes, let's make a baby, despite the great sorrow she knows will accompany her daughter's life, is a question that connects deeply. My family and I have asked ourselves the same question regarding my younger sister's really terrible struggles with mental health and subsequent suicide.... if we could somehow go back and choose, knowing how it all turns out, would we want her to happen at all? and of course, over and over again, the answer is Yes! Yes! Yes!

A

I like how you put this.

****1/2 / ***** (A-)

Great movie. Just wow.

Wow, have you given any other movie this year above B-? I don't remember any.

If we're talking 2016 movies then The Hunt for The Wilderpeople got a B from me.

EDIT: If The VVitch counts as 2016, then I gave that one too a B.

Arrival

This is the first film I saw in an American cinema (Las Vegas AMC Town Square 18). Feels good to know I contributed to its gross. Anyway, it's good. I enjoyed it. Shot, scored, and acted very, very well, but also quite dull. It's hard for me to put my finger on it, but it did not impress me too much, while obviously being well made.



Agreed.

B+

I watched this movie again today. The ending moved me even more the second time around.