Movie Critic

Arrival
Analyzed by:Alicia Lian A. Chong

A Sci-fi movie directed by Denis Villenueve, Arrival, which all left us hanging in it's movie title. The
arrival of who? Though it may seemed a bit of confusing, they achieved on making the movie diverting
and unpredictable which made it exciting and inspiring to the eyes, ears, and hearts of the audience.

Arrival had it's story about aliens whose ships landed on twelve different countries. But unlike every
other alien movies which ends up invading the planet and conquering human minds, in this movie,
aliens were not here to cause any form of destruction but to simply help humanity in a way of offering
us a gift which is their amazing form of language.

“The cornerstone of civilization isn't language-it's science” a line uttered by Ian Donnely a Theoretical
Physicit played by an always serious actor Jeremy Renner who was contradicitng a statement which
said, “Language is the foundation of civilization, it is the glue that holds the people together. It is the
first weapon drawn in a conflict.” a preface in a book written by Dr. Louise Banks a Doctor and
Teacher of language portayed by the ever vibrant actress Amy Adams, who both was the leading
characters of Arrival.

Colonel G.T Weber played by Forest Whitaker who was basically incharge of the site, which one alien
ship landed on the backyard of Montana. He appeared in Dr. Louise Banks office on the second day of
the aliens arrival wanting her to translate something for the Government. Hearing the audio file given
by Colonel Weber, you could see the reaction of Dr. Banks being amusingly calm yet confused of the
audio file which was a unidentified conversation between a man and two aliens. Not knowing how to
translate the aliens language, she stated what are the things that are needed to do in her job, which was
to interact with the aliens personally. Colonel Weber refusing on taking Dr. Banks to montana because
he doesn't want it to be a tourist site, which he clearly stated in the movie.

The next morning, Dr. Banks woke up to the sound of a helicopter which was pretty obvious that they
needed her help. There in the helicopter Dr. Banks met Ian Donnely who was going to be her partner in
that mission.

In this movie, these leading characters was given a mission to know the purpose of their aliens which
later was known as Heptapodes. Which they also named Abbot and Costello. Like I said, this movie
was not like any other alien movie that ends up invading the planet. There, the conflict of the movie
arrived. Knowing that the Heptapodes were creatures different from us, people assumed that they were
on the planet to cause destruction causing for the people to be aggressive and to not think straight.
Especially when they knew that the purpose of the heptapod was to offer a weapon. Except for Dr.
Banks and Ian Donnely, they believe that the heptapodes purpose was a weapon that was not meant to
do any harm.

That's why I said that the movie was quite confusing because of the unknown visions of Dr. Banks
about a child.You could not guess if it was a memory from the past or a glimpse of the future. When
people were about to proclaim war against the heptapodes which was being led by a Chinese General.
Dr. Banks later found out that she was the weapon the hepatods were talking about and there she knew
that the weapon was their language that if you really learn it you could perceive time the way the
heptapodes did.

The Colonel not believing in her, bidded her farewell. So she was on her own to save humanity. Thanks
to her visions she found out a way on how she convinced the Chinese General to stop the war by
uttering the last dying words of the Generals wife.

The movie ended with Ian Donnely and Dr. Banks being together. And the child from her vision? Was
surprisingly their daughter.

The way how the actors act in this movie was priceless. All of them played their roles professionally
and suited them all. Jeremy Renner was a bit of sarcastic and funny in this movie which made it
interesting while Amy Adams never fails us on how she acts just by with her stunning eyes. As always,
Forest Whitaker being direct and strict about everything. All in all, the actors and co-actors portrayed
their roles effortlessly.

Though it was topsy-turvy, they still managed to keep it connected from the beginning until the end. I
myself, could say that I really enjoyed the movie for it was different and unpredicatble. Im sure that the
audience who have watched this adored it, for I too adored it. And for the audience who havent
watched it yet and you're looking for something interesting, surprising, and could easily blow up your
mind, then this movie is worth watching for. Every minute of it.

For it does not only teach us langauge. But it teaches us not to quickly misinterpret the language of
others.

To all the cast and staff of this movie, you deserve a boatload of rewards and applause. Keep surprising
people!