Arrival

Score:  **** out of ***** (A-)

Directed by Denis Villeneuve
Starring Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Forest Whitaker
Running time: 116 minutes
Rated PG-13

Long Story Short:  Arrival is another alien encounter sci-fi film, but not at all what you're expecting.  Denis Villeneuve, having shown so much skill with both tension and personal challenge in previous films, is the perfect filmmaker for this ostensibly much different story.  With Amy Adams leading the drama in a strong performance, the film is more concerned with what alien contact might mean for humanity beyond just who blows up who.


In the span of a few minutes, the life of a young girl with her mother, Louise (Adams), unfolds and is tragically cut short by illness.  Louise, a linguist, teaches at a university when normal life is abruptly interrupted by the appearance of twelve alien craft, spread around the world.  The military, led by Col. Weber, soon comes to Louise in hopes of finding a way to communicate with the alien visitors.  Intrigued, Louise agrees and goes with them to Montana, where she meets the team including physicist Ian (Renner).  Operating from a small make-shift base, the team goes into the alien ship.  They encounter two individuals who make odd, indecipherable noises.  Although she is overwhelmed by them at first, Louise remains determined, and becomes convinced that written communication is mankind's best hope of understanding the aliens.

While Louise and Ian became fascinated by the intellectual process of understanding the aliens, their military commanders pressure them to work faster and faster.  Society begins to crumble under the stress of the alien presence, and other nations faced with alien ships in their territory also begin to lose patience.  Resting on Louise's shoulders, then, may be the fate of civilization itself.

Arrival operates with a small cast, and focuses even more narrowly on its lead.  Amy Adams takes on that lead role as Louise, and she is tremendous.  Of course, Adams has proven herself one of today's top actors already and she readily takes on this complex - and not particularly sci-fi-y - role.  She brings Louise to life, a woman more comfortable as a curious, highly intelligent academic woman than her personal side which she keeps to herself.  Louise first develops a professional rapport with Ian, only slowly becoming closer on a personal level as they are confined together on the base.  Encouragingly, Louise remains not only the more active but also the primary character in the film, not giving way to Ian.  Personal stakes do eventually come into play for Louise, and Adams handles them in a way appropriate for the character (i.e. controlled), rather than succumbing to Hollywood norms.  Jeremy Renner is also very good, perhaps for his restraint more than anything else.  Optimistic, though not cheerful, Ian is a team player who does not try to become the star of the show, offering crucial support for the lonely and stressed Louise.  Beyond Louise and Ian, the roles are few and small; Whitaker's Weber is torn between support for Louise and military duty to achieve its objectives as quickly as possible; and Michael Stuhlbarg is a sarcastic agent focused on America's coming out on top in the situation, regardless of the consequences.

Arrival is a brand-new flavor of sci-fi film, one that is flawed yet powerful and represents great hope as a melding of popular and artistic styles.  Like Christopher Nolan's Interstellar (more comparisons to this to come), Arrival is not a simple us-vs.-them shoot out.  There is plenty of tension, yes, but both films' primary mission is to engage your mind by using the tangible strangeness of sci-fi to look inward at humanity and the self.  Again, Arrival shares similar themes to the Nolan film: both the importance and lack thereof of time, and the need to put aside societal differences to advance the common causes (or to prevent the common destruction) of humanity.  A new element is that of communication and language, which plays into both of the others.  The details still demand a certain suspension of disbelief, of course, but I would argue it's the concepts that count.  The emotional elements are much more restrained in Arrival, but the main twist is fascinating (**highlight the blank area after this if you want to read spoilers**).  Louise's flash-forwarding to her daughter's life is both ingenious and heartbreaking.  I personally feel it actually could have been made even more affecting, with a tweaking of other elements in the film, but opinions on this will vary.

Fear not, Arrival is not just some abstract examination of ideas (Tree of Life this is not, thankfully).  The build up to the aliens in the first third or so of the film is riveting, and most reminiscent of the director Villeneuve's other work.  It's all quiet and very real, given just enough information and atmosphere (empty seminar rooms, roaring jet engines) to feel something big coming - not to mention a very eerie and affecting soundtrack.  Getting suited up to go into the alien ship, Adams breathes hard and noisily, echoing the audience's feelings.  Then the film admittedly bogs down a bit; there's only so much you can do to enliven the process of essentially language translation, I suppose.  But there is constant pressure to the intellectual work being done, with occasional news footage of rioting and tension among nations shown.  The ending, in fact, is surprisingly nail-biting in bringing the fate of the world to a last second confrontation at the base.  Impressively though, thanks to the script and directing, there is more intrigue in solving the film's idea riddles than in the exciting yet comparatively empty goal of preventing humanity's destruction.

***

Arrival is a great film, but I'm finding it one of the more difficult films to grade in a satisfactory way.  Once again, I come back to the comparison to Interstellar.  Both films reach for much more than the usual sci-fi genre, and appeal as both entertainment as art, which raises them (for me) to a certain minimum score.  Arrival is also made with the care and high-quality that I've come to expect from director Denis Villeneuve, one of my new favorites.  But I also feel it is missing a certain something, perhaps a crucial last link between the intellectual and emotional elements that could make it truly memorable.  It does also have its flaws, notably a pace that sometimes bogs down and a few odd elements in the script that are out of place.  I think it's easier to for me to nitpick these ambitious, hybrid films but Arrival's strengths still far outweigh its weaknesses.  From Adams' performance to the tremendous opening to the development of interesting ideas to the resolving personal twist, it has more positive things to offer than either flaws or just run-of-the-mill sci-fi.  Highly recommended.



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Doctor Strange

Score:  **** out of ***** (A-)

Directed by Scott Derrickson
Starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Tilda Swinton, Mads Mikkelsen, et. al.
Running time: 115 minutes
Rated PG-13

Long Story Short:  Doctor Strange is the latest superhero film from Marvel Studios, and like Guardians of the Galaxy, it extends the reach of the genre.  Benedict Cumberbatch is perfectly suited for the title role and gives the film a great anchor while spectacular special effects provide dazzle like few others.  Yet it's all grounded in good acting, a good script and pacing, resulting in another high quality Marvel film.  Highly recommended for all, whether or not you're a fan of the genre.


In New York City, Dr. Stephen Strange (Cumberbatch) is a great neurosurgeon and knows it, humiliating colleagues in showing off and zooming around town in his Lamborghini.  One day, his ego leads him to disaster - and on the other side of the table in his own hospital.  Dr. Strange's mind remains as sharp as a scalpel, but his hands have been ruined and he is unable even to shave.  Strange searches the globe for something or someone to heal his hands but despairs as he continues to fail, turning against the few who remain close to him like Dr. Palmer (McAdams).  He finally turns to an old story he heard about a man who should have been permanently paralyzed but now walks again; tracking him down, Strange is pointed to Kathmandu, Nepal.

Strange finds there a compound full of unusual individuals - and even more unbelievable revelations about the nature of reality itself.  The leader of the group, known as the Ancient One (Swinton), acknowledges that they are capable of healing his hands, but only if Strange is able to relearn what he knows is possible in the world.  Determined to return to his old life, Strange is a quick study - but lurking in the shadows are forces seeking to harness that same power for evil.

Doctor Strange reaps the benefits of a well-chosen and engaged cast that brings a, well, strange story to life.  Benedict Cumberbatch, an actor well-known and regarded for brilliant enigma roles, plays the title character.  There are times when casting against type is great, but Cumberbatch seemed so tailor-made for the role that he was an obvious choice.  Cumberbatch fully inhabits Strange, from the physical performance (action scenes to his American accent) to the human.  He makes both a believable star surgeon and an entirely new kind of action star, his movements melding seamlessly with the awe-inspiring CGI.  Cumberbatch mostly keeps Strange's feelings reserved, with a few notable exceptions; this bearing is in line with the story and Strange's background.  Tilda Swinton, known for her unusual roles, plays the Ancient One.  This role is actually pretty straightforward for her, despite sporting a shaved head, as the guru and leader of the world's sorcerers.  Still, Swinton's acting makes the role appropriately mysterious, with both compassion and menace lurking just underneath the serene surface.  The other roles are comparatively small yet also impressive.  Chiwetel Ejiofor plays the Ancient One's lieutenant, at first a standard role which by the end morphs into a crucial one for future films; Rachel McAdams makes the most of her brief but important time as Strange's closest "normal" relationship; Mads Mikkelsen's villain is rather shallow but the actor knows how to play a bad guy; and Benedict Wong provides great comic relief as the sorcerers' librarian.

Doctor Strange is yet another resounding success for Marvel in pushing the boundaries of the superhero film genre.  It uses a very familiar story structure, but executes it with such energy - produced by the actors, the ideas, and the visuals - that the film easily defines its own, incredibly entertaining identity.  Yes, this is another origin story, but one that is less like the typical superhero than an interesting combination of The Matrix, Star Wars, and Harry Potter.  The script introduces Dr. Strange, the man, in a straightforward yet also an effective and prompt manner.  Then it's off to the races when Dr. Strange meets the sorcerers.  Here again the script - and direction - displays a subtle yet crucial balance.  The amazing new aspects of reality are revealed so as to convey an appropriate sense of awe but not to the degree that the audience becomes numbed to them, nor do they overwhelm the characters.  But it's not all about neat tricks and dazzling visuals (see more below).  Doctor Strange has some great food for thought as well, particularly around the theme of whether means justify ends.  The film doesn't dwell on these - it (rightfully, in my opinion) prioritizes the adventure elements and therefore avoids tonal incongruity.

The film's magical reality truly is awesome.  Not only is the CGI stunningly realistic and enveloping (think Inception on steroids), but it's thoughtfully designed and nothing is there without reason.  There are several incredible action scenes, particularly Dr. Strange's first encounter with the main villain.  To top it all off, Doctor Strange is one of the funniest in a catalog of Marvel films that are always humorous to some degree.  The standout here is not any of the human characters, but a certain item of clothing.  Doctor Strange isn't perfect, most notably character development and emotional grounding are minimal, and the villain isn't all that interesting.  But as in the case of its Big Ideas (see above), the filmmakers were wise to instead accentuate the strong focal points of the film.

***

Doctor Strange is one of the year's strongest films, and to me cements Marvel's status as the Pixar of superhero films.  The studio churns out its films - about two a year - at an amazing rate, especially considering the high quality of virtually every single one.  Rather than stick with one winning formula, the studio has boldly expanded the limits of the genre (in film, anyway), enriching every element of its films - stories, characters, visuals, ideas.  Had Doctor Strange been released in 2008 or earlier - even granted today's technical capabilities - I would have been quite skeptical.  But Marvel has proven itself and so I came in with every expectation that it would be strong film.  In Hollywood today, that is a rare thing.  Certainly, I am a fan of the genre but I don't think the general quality of the studio's productions can be denied.  I highly recommend this film, in particular, to anyone - even if you aren't a fan of the genre yourself.




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