Arrival (2016) Review (SPOILERS)

   Arrival (2016) was a really entertaining and interesting sci-fi drama film, based on Ted Chiang's short story "Story of Your Life," and is directed by Denis Villeneuve. Arrival follows the story of a linguist who is tasked with translating an alien language to English so they can communicate.It was a really well-made movie, the stars Amy Adams (Louise Banks), Jeremy Renner (Ian Donnelly) and Forest Whitaker (Colonel Weber) all performed really well and helped to sell this sci-fi drama. But I usually don't watch movies looking for hidden meaning or a message of some kind. I just watch them for entertainment, I enjoy them! And this movie is no exception. The effects are extraordinary, the design for the aliens, known as Heptapods, is really unique and different from most of what has been shown before. The soundtrack by Jóhann Jóhannsson is also very unique, a lot of the music is an auditory palindrome, fitting in with the circular theme of the film, but more on that later. It's full of very strange sounds. Everything about this film is strange and very different from most other sci-fi movies, and that's pretty awesome on its own. Different is good. The same old stuff DOES get boring after a while. 
   The film opens with Amy Adams' character linguist Louise Banks raising her child at various stages, from birth to young adulthood, until she suddenly loses her child to cancer. After the titles the film shows Louise lecturing a class in a Massachusetts university when all of a sudden strange, unidentified flying objects appear in twelve locations across the world. These objects, revealed to be alien spacecraft, are absolutely huge and wedge-shaped. The sight of them in the film is spectacular. The effects used for these ships are breathtaking. They truly are an awesome sight, especially with the way the sun bounces off of them, and just the sheer size of them! Later that night, Colonel Weber shows up at Banks' home and asks her to go with him to one of the ships, and join physicist Ian Donnelly, played by Jeremy Renner, to communicate with the aliens. 

The sheer size of the Heptapod ship is enough to take your breath away.

   The extraterrestrials are revealed to be these towering, squidlike beings dubbed Heptapods by the humans. They nickname the two Heptapods they encounter Abbot and Costello. The Heptapods seem peaceful, and are only interested in communication. As they try and show and explain words to the Heptapods by writing them down, the Heptapods reveal their language, a series of circular symbols written in black ink. As a vocabulary is built up and Banks becomes more proficient in understanding the alien symbols, she starts having visions in the night, sometimes of her child and husband, and sometimes of the Heptapods themselves. When Ian and Louise finally ask the 'Big Question', why are the aliens here, the Heptapods answer with: "Offer weapon." China meanwhile translates it as "Use weapon," and this causes them to go off the grid. Several other nations do too, in fear of what the Heptapods might mean, and the world's nations stop exchanging information. 

Abbot and Costello give the symbols for their names to Louise and Ian.

   The next session with the Abbot and Costello ends tragically when a rogue group of soldiers places a bomb aboard the ship. Abbot notices and tries to warn Ian and Louise, but it detonates. Just before it does though, the pair of aliens give a huge, complicated message with hundreds of circular symbols. They then push Ian and Louise out of the ship to prevent them from being harmed by the bomb. Knocked unconscious, they reawaken to see the military evacuating and the huge spaceship moving upwards and out of reach. At the same time, China has delivered an ultimatum to the aliens, demanding that they leave. China prepares for an attack, and Russia, Pakistan, and Sudan follow their example quickly. Louise believes this is all a big mistake, and against orders goes up to the ship alone. She is allowed aboard and speaks with Costello, who explains that Abbot is dying from the incident. Louise shows sorrow for what happened and then asks about the visions she's been having about a child. Costello reveals to her that these are glimpses of the future, and explains that the 'weapon' they offered humanity is their entire language, in twelve parts, and that humanity must work together. The Heptapod also says that they came to help humans, so that in 3,000 years the humans may help them in return. With a firm grasp on the language, he explains, humanity can experience time as they do, in a circular manner. They can see the future, as Louise does now. 

Amy Adams' character interacts with the Heptapod.

   Next, Louise gets a vision of her speaking with General Shang at a United Nations convention, being thanked by him for changing his mind. She's confused and asked what she did. He reveals that she called him on his private phone, and told him his wife's dying words. With that information now available to her, Louise grabs one of the government agents' satellite phones and rushes to call the Chinese General. The military tries to stop her, fearing she is committing treason, but she asks Ian, who at first tries to stop her, to trust her. When he does trust her, he buys her time so she can make the call. When she does successfully call the General and recite his wife's words in Mandarin. This prompts the Chinese to have an emergency meting, and they release their twelfth of the Heptapod message. Finally, the rest of the world is in communication again, and they all share their parts of the Heptapod language with each other. The UFOs leave Earth, and Ian reveals his love for Louise. She asks him if he would change his life choices if he knew the future, and he says he wouldn't. Despite knowing the fate of her marriage and child, Louise accepts Ian's love. 
   Overall, this was a very enjoyable film, through-and-through. I liked it so much that I watched it twice within the same day. The narrative is great, the effects are awesome, the message the film puts out is interesting and thought-provoking, and the actors do a fantastic job. This film is a must-see, even if it's just for the spectacle of it.