2y ago

This article calls 'Arrival' as 'One of the Best Sci-Fi Films of the Century' but was it? I tried it and I was like ... 'meh'

www.msn.com /en-us/movies/news/you-need-to-watch-one-of-the-best-sci-fi-films-of-the-century-on-amazon-prime-asap/ar-AA1cVSCl

spoilers ahead I felt like the character conflict arcs were contrived and ultimately the idea of learning a language makes you a pre-cog fell flat for me. In science fiction, the big idea goes 'woo!' or the characters go 'woo!' but in the case of Arrival, nothing really went 'woo!'

But maybe I'm wrong - what was I missing about Arrival?

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37 comments

I love Arrival, it's one of my favorites. The scene where she meets with the Chinese general at the gala was chilling, I love how she herself is confused for most of the movie and formulates her plan in that moment, in collaboration with him. I also love that the reason for first contact is that the aliens will need help centuries in the future, that's a pretty unique spin on the usual story.
The piece about her daughter is interesting I think but it's not the strongest part of the movie. I was disappointed that they shoehorn the romance at the end and have her and Ian fall in love. Honestly I would have been fine never knowing who her husband was, because the poignancy of the story was her own personal choices about having a child.
- Also it's not that it makes you a pre-cog, it's more that it makes you unstuck in time, Billy Pilgrim style. She was perceiving her life nonlinearly.

37 comments