"Arrival" gives a new twist to alien invasion movies, making it possibly one of the best films of this year. No White House blowing, no scenes about world tourist spots being destroyed, and no monstrous aliens popping out of people's ribs, this movie's premise has 12 giant alien space ships hovering above certain parts of the world and the story tackles humanity's emotions.
Directed by Denis Villeneuve, this quietly tense film follows the story of Dr. Louise Banks played by Amy Adams. She is a linguistics professor whose skills were used to crack the alien's language and true message, Vox reported. Other stars in the film includes Jeremy Renner, who plays physicist Ian Donnelly, and Forest Whitaker who plays Colonel Weber. Their off in a mission to decode what the aliens want from the planet, and whether they are here for peaceful terms or should the military engage them.
The story is based on a short story called "Story of Your Life" by Ted Chiang, the legendary sci-fi writer famous for taking traditional ideas and turning them into something more in-depth. This is why the story suddenly veers off to a totally direction as audience start to think they figured the story out. Screenwriter Eric Heisserer took Chiang's idea and inserted some of his own, making the movie a meaningful sci-fi drama-thriller.
"Arrival" brings story telling into a whole new level and this has grabbed the interest of fans across generations, ABC News reported. This is also a strong and meaningful movie for those who are experiencing loss. Some critics dub this move as sci-fi with a soul. The story worked great, especially with the performance of Amy Adams, who deserves an Oscar nomination for her role in this movie.
In the beginning of the movie, there are some hints of nostalgia coming from movies like "Solaris," "2001: A Space Odyssey," and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind. However, as the movie progress, it started to tackle issues on language and accepting alien cultures. The latter is a very timely issue, especially with what is going on in the US and the whole world.
