Friday, August 4, 2017

Movie Night: The Arrival (2016)

Review:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When twelve mysterious spacecraft appear around the world, linguistics professor Louise Banks is tasked with interpreting the language of the apparent alien visitors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     

 

 

 

Okay so here's your warning if you haven't watched this movie yet.

This post contains SPOILERS. (Feel free to close the window if you don't want certain details ruined for you)

 

So far I've seen the Arrival six times. Yes, six. I'll probably watch it again too.

The first time I saw The Arrival I really disliked it. I borderline hated it. Why I really can't explain, I just really didn't like it. But after a few days I couldn't get it out of my mind. Something about it stuck with me and kept sticking with me.

 

Needing to understand why I didn't care for it I went back to watch it a second time. Then a third, and a forth and so on. I still can't really say why I disliked it so much the first time other than its rather vast vagueness and the open question of what takes place or might take place in three thousand years that triggers the Heptapod's arrival in the first place.

Granted, I haven't read the short story that the movie is based off of which I hear is quite a bit different from the film but I'm rather glad they left certain things I've heard about it out of the movie.

I'm still not sure how I feel about Abbott and Costello. I know they call them Heptapod's and all but come on, they're squid. They're giant squid. Just call them what they are. They're not aliens, they're squid. Heptapod..

Atleast viewers didn't get a giant version of Starship Trooper's drooling vagina. Okay whatever. I can deal with a giant squid.

 

That aside there's something really cool about how thought out this movie is.

Viewers don't really know where they are in the beginning of the movie because they don't really realize the timeline plot they're about to be drawn into.

Future memories at the beginning setting into motion the journey part way through, the future at the end closing the loop to ensure that the past that has happened and the future that needs to happen actually take place.

Viewers get to see how the paradox and the non linear time affect Louise as she learns the language so that she sees things the way the Heptapod's do but the movie also plays in the non linear sort of way as well so viewers have to piece together where it all ties in the way Louise does.

Its wild to see the flashes where she doesn't even know where/when she is once she has the ability to see the way the Heptapod's do. Personally I don't see how useful could she be if she's stuck in la la land because her view of time is no longer the same.

There are a ton of questions as a viewer of how that kind of thing would affect a person and a society as whole once we see that Louise eventually begins to teach their language to other students and once we know what learning it does to a person. I did feel for her because despite knowing the future she still decided to go through with it even though she knew the loss she would suffer because of it. 

 

I have to admit now the more I watch this movie the more I like it and there's always something more that I discover about it that intrigues me. There are so many things I wish I could mention here but I'd probably be going on for hours. I highly recommend this movie. A very good second in plot development as Interstellar. Very good!

 

Note: The Arrival - not to be confused with Charlie Sheen's alien movie The Arrival from 1996 came out in 2016.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Original post: kkmalott.booklikes.com/post/1585398/movie-night-the-arrival-2016

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