Arrival

This review may contain spoilers!

This is an incredible film about communication and global unification. I would give Arrival an 8/10.

This is a science-fiction film that completely redefines the genre and how it can be portrayed, the plot is a really abstract look at a 'first contact' feature. Over the course of the film we see global political tensions rise as nations around the world negotiate how best to interact with the 12 alien spacecraft that appear above various locations throughout Earth. The central character of Louise is at the heart of this film, making stunning linguistic advances and bridging the gap between humanity and an alien culture. As good as this narrative is at a first glance it is heightened even more by the implementation of some great plot twists; discovering Hannah wasn't due to be born until after the events of the film made for a good turn and seeing General Shang as a rather amiable character by the end of the film certainly drove home the film's message about unity. The cinematography is really unique, no two shots ever really feel the same which makes for a nice experience. I really enjoyed the special effects, the design for the aliens and the spaceships felt very abstract and original in a genre that is hard to be original within. The score for the film is exceedingly powerful, it also manages to be quite staggering and unsettling at times.

Jeremy Renner, who played Ian Donnelly, was quite a charismatic supporting role to Adams' lead; his sheer fascination with the science of what the aliens present makes for a really engaging and likeable role. Forest Whitaker, who played Colonel Weber, made the perfect stern and resolute military man; I appreciated that he wasn't always onboard with Adams' direction but he supported what she was attempting to achieve - made for a nice neutral role. Abigail Pniowsky and Jadyn Malone, who played Hannah (8 Years Old) and Hannah (6 Years Old) respectively, were both brilliant child performers; the inquisitiveness and open nature of these two performances really made the plot twists around the Hannah character all the more interesting. Tzi Ma, who played General Shang, is a voiceless antagonist for most of the film so when he's revealed to be quite a nice genuine character in a flashforward I was surprised; Ma has the skill to craft such depth to a role that only had one scene to really change audience perspective of him.

However the best performance came from Amy Adams, who played Dr. Louise Banks. This is a role who you can really relate to it, she's staggered by the experience and responsibility set before her, yet she handles the task in a very hands-on and professional approach. Grappling with an alien culture and language really affects Louise's mental state and Adams does a great job of showing the various impacts of this throughout. Her growing passion makes this an emotional journey right up to the point where we see her interact with her future and solving a global crisis by the end of the film.

For a long time the film seems more like an answer to a philosophical question, as such you feel distanced from the characters and don't feel as connected to what's happening in some scenes. This results in long, stretched out pacing until the back half of the film get underway. The pacing isn't aided by the film's slow and clunky approach to editing.

Michael Stuhlbarg, who played Agent Halpern, is a character that the film never really seemed to know what to do with; at first he seems a minor role then later an aiding character and by the end of the film he's devolved into some type of antagonist. Mark O'Brien, who played Captain Marks, was a poorly written antagonist; O'Brien never really develops into a convincing antagonist and the film probably should have spent more time fleshing out his motivations. Julia Scarlett Dan, who played Hannah (12 Years Old), was quite a bland portrayal following Pniowsky and Malone's depiction of Hannah; she really doesn't have as much of a connection with Adams as the two younger actresses do. Larry Day and Julian Casey, who played Deputy Director Of The CIA Dan Ryder and Australian Scientist respectively, were just two of the central roles that talked via screens who only ever really dealt some heavy-handed exposition; these were crafted to be forgettable and throwaway roles. Frank Schorpion, who played Dr Kettler, was a very rigid generic performance of a military doctor; the character never rises to the alien situation he's in which is surprising considering he's the only medical role we see in this situation.