Arrival tells a fairly straightforward story of first contact. Like many such films made since Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), Arrival shares a common conflict between the “shoot first, ask questions later” school of thought versus the “they will be our friends if we could just understand each other” line of thinking. There’s also the common man thrust into the central role of saving the planet or the aliens or both (Amy Adams in this case, channelling Richard Dreyfus in Close Encounters).
Arrival compares favourably to Close Encounters in many respects, especially in the pacing – the slow reveal and the build-up of tension. Both films also recognise the importance of communication in conflict resolution – important lessons of course that resonate throughout history. Shapes and sounds are also used to great and memorable effect and the acting from all the leads is spot on.
Arrival also features the best use of a smoke machine since The Hound of the Baskervilles.
When the aliens do arrive to either conquer us or befriend us we can rest assured knowing that our hero and saviour will be only a few basic musical notes, a white board or some hand signals away from rescuing humanity.
