Two looks at new movie Arrival

Based off of Story of Your Life, a science fiction short story by Ted Chiang, Arrival portrays the chaos that unfolds after twelve spaceships land around the world. Struggling to delay the impending violence prompted by Chinese General Shang, linguistics professor Louise Banks leads a team of elite investigators to foster communication with the aliens. Ultimately, interaction with the aliens (named heptapods) leads Banks to understand and embrace her life on an unprecedented level.

In Arrival, star Amy Adams plays the role of linguistics professor Louise Banks, accompanied by co-star Jeremy Renner as Ian Donnelly. An American actress and singer, Adams began her career performing in dinner theater and debuted in the 1999 comedy Drop Dead Gorgeous. Audience members may also recognize Jeremy Renner from his role in The Bourne Legacy. Forest Whitaker plays in Arrival as Colonel Weber, and Tzi Ma (who made appearances in tv shows such as JAG, Law and Order, and NYPD Blue) acts as General Shang. Abigail Pniowsky and Julia Scarlett Dan work together in the film as Hannah, portraying the character through various stages of her life. Behind the scenes, French Canadian director Denis Villeneuve supported the success of the film. Villeneuve won the Genie Award for Best Direction three times, for Maelström (2001), Polytechnique (2010), and Incendies (2011).

Certainly, one of the film’s notable strengths is its emphasis on the power of language. Viewers will marvel at the sheer importance of a capability for communication often taken for granted. Furthermore, the film encourages viewers to consider the concept of life as a collection of one’s life memories; it illustrates the impact of time perception on a person’s life.

The mystery/science fiction film, labeled Pg-13, provides entertainment for all ages. Unlike the majority of modern-day movies, it manages to hold the audience’s attention with little violence and few antagonists. Audience members can relate to Banks and revel in the suspense of her encounters with the aliens. One of its faults, however, is its somewhat confusing distortion of time. The true sequence of events becomes apparent towards the end of the plot. Also, some viewers might appreciate more comedy.

IMDb rated the film 8.5/10, and Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 93%, reflecting the time and effort poured into the work. Seeing as the movie was just released on November 11, viewers still have plenty of time to enjoy it on the big screen. Although an evening at the theater will lighten one’s wallet by at least $9, the quality of Arrival makes it worth the cost.

-Samantha Marotta

Language is the basis of civilization. It influences the way we think, the way we act, and to an extent even what we believe. It’s necessary, and powerful, and confusing all in one. Language is universal among human beings, and as it seems in new blockbuster Arrival, language is prominent throughout the universe.

So what happens when two different cultures, two different species with completely different morals, languages, and ways of seeing the world have to come together and work to communicate? When mistranslations can cause death or even global destruction, how does a translator even begin to make headway in talking with an alien race?

In Arrival, Dr. Louise Banks, played by Amy Adams, is a translator who faces this monumental task. Working with the United States government and with physicist Ian Donnelly (Jeremy Renner) after twelve mysterious vessels have landed in various parts of the globe, Banks must decipher the aliens’ language and figure out their motive for coming to Earth.

The movie, rated PG-13, earned an impressive 93% score on Rotten Tomatoes, paired with a rating of 8.4 out of 10 offered by IMDb. Critics and audiences alike seemed to really enjoy the movie, much as I did, though many agreed that the film had its confusing moments.

Arrival is definitely not for fans of movies that are very easy to understand. Much like 2014’s space hit Interstellar, Arrival takes some effort to follow, though it is very rewarding by the end. Though there are quite a few loose ends and perplexing scenes throughout the course of the film, everything comes together extremely well to create a thought-provoking and entertaining production.

The characters were very well fleshed-out, but not entirely relatable. They were still wonderful, though; their motivations were relatively clear, even if they revolved around communication with alien life, and the actors chosen were truly perfect for the roles in which they were cast.

The film also had amazing special effects, though some people may not appreciate it if they are not fans of science fiction. Additionally, the aliens in the film are extremely interesting (if also extremely odd) to look at, as is their language- I feel that some viewers may find these to be somewhat lacking in originality, much as they are different from any movie ‘aliens’ I’ve seen before.

Overall, I really enjoyed the film and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who thinks they may enjoy it as well.

-Gabi Risko