Denis Villeneuve directs the smartest film of 2016 with this intense and inspiring story of first contact with an alien race. I never really thought about what first contact would be like from this perspective on the topic of communication. Chances are very likely that the alien race will not be speaking our language. Star Trek and Star Wars pretty much take out that concern by having most of them speak English. Suitable for quicker story telling.
This has been the most personal first contact story I’ve ever seen. Everyone on screen has their concerns, joys, and sorrows with this mission of finding out why these aliens are here. Jeremy Renner, Forrest Whitaker, and Amy Adams play their characters to match these emotions, and they hit it out of the park. I was most surprised with Whitaker’s performance as Colonel Weber who is most concerned for safety for others. He’s not portrayed as the hardhearted military antagonistic character, he just wants to make sure that the human race isn’t wiped out. A lot of stress.
Now that said, I want to focus on Adams’ character Dr. Louise Banks. She gives a great performance as a strong willed woman who is tasked with an almost impossible mission of finding out why these “new arrivals” have come to Earth. She has to hurdle over a big language barrier, the CIA, and all of the other teams doing the same thing around the world. What was amazing about her performance is she never does her trademark hardcore Amy Adams “don’t f*@& with me” monologues as she tends to do in films such as “Batman v. Superman” and “Trouble with the Curve.” She is more subtle, more professional, and more caring in this film. She is someone is normal who gets put in an abnormal situation. A very good fit. It’s also nice to see a more loving female protagonist opposite from what Jodie Foster gave us in “Contact.”
The whole movie is wonderful. It’s a very good sci-fi story that belongs with the first contact epics. Every part of this film fits into the main mission. There are no wasted scenes. It’s edited cleanly, the score by Johann Johannsson gives the film emotional weight, and the acting is very convincing and understanding. All of these gave me the “feels”. I love it when a movie gives me those.
Amy Adams in “Arrival”
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