[Spoiler Alert]
I saw "Arrival" over Thanksgiving break, and as a die-hard "Interstellar" fan, I was wary to expose myself to a movie that has been lauded as the "best science fiction film of the decade." Director Denis Villeneuve (also known for "Sicario") was careful to stay faithful to the film's source material (Ted Chiang's "Story of Your Life"), but also managed to translate it successfully, with a much larger scope than the original short story to the big screen.
Needless to say, I was blown away. It had me from the start when it opened (and closed) with Max Richter's "On the Nature of Daylight," which I had been listening to from the "Shutter Island" soundtrack for years. The story is intimate and thoughtful in the handling of every aspect of what "first contact" could be like.
Admittedly, it takes the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis a little far — as soon as you acquire the Heptapod's nonlinear language, you suddenly gain unrestricted access to your past and future — but it was still a very good twist nonetheless. The rest of the film wasn't half bad, either, and here's why:
1. Stars a well-written female character as the main role.
As per usual, Amy Adams was amazing as Louise Banks, a renowned linguist who is recruited by the military to develop a mode of communication with extraterrestrials. For a brief moment, her performance made me forget that I had grown up watching her as Princess Giselle in the soul-grating "Enchanted" movie. Louise is emotional, professional, and dedicated to understanding something everyone else wants to point a gun at. Of course, she's the protagonist and that's to be expected, but she also conveys the awe we all want to feel in a masterful whirlwind of emotion, even after she decides to have and love a daughter she knows will die at a young age. Jeremy Renner who?
2. The story never leaves Earth.
"Arrival" isn't afraid to hang back and show how the world would (eventually) come together and face first contact. Of course, it's annoying to watch paranoid governments and soldiers act out in the most predictable way possible, but the implied unity of nations in the end kind of makes up for it. Also, the fact that the human race was chosen for a neighborly visit in anticipation of an alliance in a couple thousand years always gives me chills.
3. Shows realistic aliens.
The squelephants (squid-elephants) aren't necessarily pretty by human standards, but the lack of overt breasts in our first glance of the Heptapods gave me a lot of hope for the direction the rest of the movie would be taking.
4. Emphasis on how difficult initial communications would be.
Another thing that's rarely seen in science-fiction movies: an over-the-top emphasis on how difficult it would be to even ask an alien, "Why are you here?" While writers usually like to jump straight to a handheld translator, in reality we'd be inching along for months trying to understand each other. Though it can be said that the overly-cautious, trigger-happy military is the main antagonist of this movie, the limits of military power - and when it has to give way to rational science - make themselves known, and play second fiddle to the importance of Adams's and Renner's characters.
5. Non-linear storytelling
Non-linear storytelling in a way that isn't obvious or annoying was one of the most gripping elements of "Arrival." Sitting in the audience, you kind of get this feeling about three-fourths of the way through that the emotional opening montage (reminiscent of "Up") will end up playing a part in the climax. And then that "oh..." moment when you figure out for yourself that the opening is the climax. In my humble opinion, the best movies are those that either teach me something valuable or open my eyes to an entirely new perception of something as well-established as time.
The overall takeaway was to live in the moment. Louise knows what her future will hold, but isn't afraid of it. She's ready to embrace the many tragedies that await her, because there are moments of happiness tucked in there, too. After a calamitous year, "Arrival" left us with hope for humanity, even if we can't see it... yet.