If you're looking for an action and "turn brain off now" film, just don't watch it and spare us the 6-7 hearts review. I for one, am very tired from 500$m crap like Indi Day and Marvel's poop. So I was very excited to watch this one. This one is more like Spielberg's Encounters from the Third Kind. It's more about the characters in the film and the amazing journey they go through. It's mostly about the human behavior that will make you think. While it's not an End of the World aliens movie like Battle: Los Angeles, it still offers great amount of military presence and plenty of stuff that's going on. So if you actually want to care about an intelligent movie and use your head - go. Otherwise, go watch an X men. Highly recommended for some audience 10/10. 2-feb-2017 edit: Just came out on Bluray and I saw it again. Definitely keeping my rating. Watching again at July-2023, excited towards Dune II : Excellent. Excellent film. So called plot-holes listed here are negligible when the overall product is really thoughtful and masterfully crafted.

Denis Villenueve. A solid lineup. A different take on first contact. I loved Sicario but went in expecting a cerebral epic sci-fi. That was a mistake. Good things: - Some really nice visual scenes - Interesting aliens [spoiler]Calligraphy aliens![/spoiler] - Clear theme of communication is omnipresent - A neat score that might be awesome in a different movie Bad things: - The acting - The lack of emotional reaction to ALIENS! [spoiler]The students asking to turn on the TV, all of the main characters[/spoiler] - Lack of useful characters [spoiler]Only the aliens and Louise actually did anything the entire movie. [/spoiler] - Supporting characters are very stupid in an attempt to foil the main character slightly - Very clumsy exposition. Genre-typical news reports, voice-overs, dumb characters asking stupid questions. - Very slow pacing. This worked in parts of Sicario, but didn't work in this movie because [spoiler]there was no tension. The main characters never seemed remotely threatened.[/spoiler] - Lousie showing up at school [spoiler]thinking everyone will be there after aliens arrive and there's a state of emergency[/spoiler] - [spoiler]Why can't you translate alien language like you can translate Farsi. This is a paraphrase but in the spirit of what Colonel Weber was saying. [/spoiler] - [spoiler]Useless love interest when the costars have no chemistry.[/spoiler] - [spoiler]Ultrasecure military base lets someone steal a ton of explosives and put it in an ALIEN SPACECRAFT without anyone noticing. [/spoiler] - Many unbelievable plot points - Poor dialogue [spoiler]Let's make a baby - real quote[/spoiler] - Poor handling of the major plot points [spoiler]Looking through time seems to undermine the fact that the aliens need help. Why did one have to die if they could see the future? Why did only one die when they were right next to each other?[/spoiler] - Very heavy handed moral messaging that didn't align with the rest of the movie. - [spoiler]Why couldn't Ian also see into the future as he studied the language, or any of the others?[/spoiler] Overall extremely disappointing. I'm honestly surprised critics or general moviegoers like this. The premise was very good. It's a real shame the execution failed so miserably.

Villeneuve follows up "Sicario" with a gem. A deep, twisty and emotional sci-fi piece. Aspects of time, how we view life experiences, communication and and if we would still choose paths even knowing the outcome are a few theme that are touched upon. Jóhannsson again composes a masterpiece score instilling the needed wonderment and fear first contact would dictate. And of course a great cast including Adams, Renner and Whitaker. Just awesome, gotta see it again!

I don't believe I've ever been so captivated by such a deeply flawed movie as I am with Arrival. What others have written about it—with far more insight than I could—is all too true, namely that the acting is hollow at best and the plot is nothing so much as a severely frayed thread in danger of completely unraveling. It's an utter waste of one of the most creative iterations of extra-terrestrial contact in cinematic history. And yet, despite all of these reasons to dismiss this lamentable execution of the cinematic arts, I can't help but admit…I love it. When you strip away all of the trappings and examine this movie solely for the essential story being told, you are privy to something very profound, and genuinely uplifting: how humanity's manifold foibles, when put together, might just be redeeming after all. Through the protagonist, Louise, we see the unfolding of a series of personal tragedies and yet her response to them is tempered with unflinching dedication to the accomplishment of something worthwhile, and therein she finds her purpose. At the risk of sounding hyperbolic, I found in this story elements of the best of Disney's heroes, Shakespeare's tragic rulers, and religious texts' unwavering commitment to the belief that there is no such thing as a meaningless sacrifice. While they all could've been done greater justice, I believe their coexistence here is cause to sit up, take note, and eschew any demands for a greater polish and fidelity to realism. I came away with a greater knowledge of myself and a more forgiving opinion of our species as a whole, and for both of those I am grateful beyond measure. Perhaps in time I'll come to see that the imperfections in its presentation actually work to clarify some or all of these laudable aspects of the narrative,...or perhaps the magic will fade under the weight of familiarity and I'll be unable to defend it again as I have here now. Either way, the two hours I devoted to watching this movie for the first time are ones that I won't ever regret, and perhaps that's the best praise any artistic work can receive, especially in light of this particular story.

Heavy on the fiction, weak on the science. This makes the human race look incredibly stupid. They are completely guessing at what the aliens are saying. They have no proof at all. Seems to me, beings would be able to decipher our simple symbols before we could make any progress with theirs, duh! They mastered space travel didn't they? Also, in order to communicate in a first contact situation would be to use symbols that we both have in common, and the only thing that we could have in common would be the elements of the periodic table. Quantum physics would be the only way to communicate initially. Last point, and this goes along with the first point. They mastered space travel, obviously superior. Wouldn't they have first contact protocols ready, before they actually land. Why come and just sit there looking stupid? Awaiting a primitive species to figure you out. Wouldn't they at least take the lead, not let some dumb college teacher to bumble things up. I'm sorry but this movie is just plain dumb. At least the science portion of it is.