BrendanW 
Denis Villeneuve has really been making some waves lately. He directed my second-favourite movie of last year in Sicario and the excellent Prisoners. I’m told he’s also directed some solid independant stuff before that as well but I haven’t yet gotten the opportunity to check that out. What’s great about Villeneuve is that even his mainstream stuff is decidedly non-Hollywood in its style and devoid of a lot of typical cliches. For instance, this is a science-fiction film about an alien invasion but it’s not anything that you would expect.
Plot:
Twelve strange “shells” land in various places across the Earth, which prompts multiple nations to come together and investigate what it could mean to the human race. A young linguistics expert, Louise Banks (Amy Adams), is hired by US Army Colonel Weber (Forest Whitaker) in order to decipher the aliens’ language and to discover exactly why they have landed on Earth and their purpose. She is assisted by a theoretical physicist named Ian Donnelly (Jeremy Renner) and between the two of them they begin to go through a series of tests in order to prevent a possible global war as several other nations seem to be a lot more cautious of the possibly dangerous aspects of these aliens.
Writing:
The film excels in the writing department because it is unlike other similar sci-fi epics. Instead of a number of set pieces involving aliens fighting humans or humans using weapons to pre-emptively attack these strange beings, the film is rooted more in human drama and emotional pathos. When we are shown flashbacks involving Louise and a young girl, it helps us to identify the type of struggle that this character has been through and allows us to further identify with her. The relationship between the characters is key in a movie like this and Villeneuve employs a much more realistic style so that everyone feels like a real person rather than a character that exists just for the sake of moving the plot forward.
It’s pretty hard to talk a great deal about the writing without ruining a lot but I will say that as a viewer, if you are patient and pay attention, the plot will pay off in a terrific way in the end. The pacing of the script is fairly deliberate but it is done that way purposely because director Villeneuve refuses to succumb to the Hollywood style and instead tells his story in the way that most benefits the movie whether it is a style audiences are accustomed to or not.
Telling the story within the confines of one location (the “shell” and outside of it in a research station) for the most part is a great idea too as it adds to the feeling of claustrophobia and immediacy while our scientists are working around the clock to figure out if these aliens mean any harm or if they are simply trying to send an important message to the human race. Thankfully included in this story is a lack of Movie Science (and by that I mean science that only really makes sense in the context of the movie to move the plot forward rather than actual feasible science).
Acting:
Amy Adams is terrific as per usual. Like most of the actors in this movie, she never goes over the top or over-acts in any way; her performance just feels grounded and realistic. Jeremy Renner is also solid. Forest Whitaker can pretty much do anything and he pulls off another good performance here as a hardened but kind-hearted general. Anyone beyond those three main roles is solid but these are the ones that definitively stand out.
Technical Aspects:
The design of the aliens is one thing that the filmmakers probably stressed over for a great deal of time and I think they’ve succeeded in that regard. The aliens are simplistic enough to not be ridiculous-looking or CGI-heavy but intricate enough to be interesting and keep your attention. As the aliens attempt to speak with Adams and Renner, their speech is represented by shadowy and circular patterns. The bits where Adams used her linguistic skills to decipher some of it was lost on me (only because I’m not very well-versed in that area of thought) but just the design of the language itself was very well-done.
Another cool thing Villeneuve did well is the design of the “shell”-like spaceships. In almost every other movie, we see giant spaceships with lots of lights and various beeps and buzzes but here, we have what looks like a large black pebble so it defies your expectations right off the bat. Inside is simply a hollow enclosure with a lack of gravity, which allows the scientists to glide up the tunnel to where the aliens are located. The actual special effects-laden scenes are few and far between but still executed in a most convincing manner.
Overall:
Another slam-dunk for Denis Villeneuve in his growing repertoire of revolutionary films. This film makes me a lot more excited for his take on the upcoming Blade Runner sequel. Check this one out while you can; it’s phenomenal.
FINAL RATING: *****
Rating System:
* (Brutal; the worst rating)
** (Some elements keep it from being awful but still not very good)
*** (Completely watchable; a rental as old-timers might say)
**** (Great film with a few things here and there keeping it from being perfect)
***** (Flawless; a true achievement)
