Enter “Arrival,” this year’s smartest sci-fi flick
Amy Adams must communicate with extraterrestrial visitors in “Arrival.” Image courtesy of Paramount Pictures by Ryan Rojas/Cinemacy.com Inevitably, alien invasion movies must ask themselves – and their audience – the same critical question: What are they doing here? And yet, before this question can even be posited to alien life forms, the small hurdle of needing to teach word-based human language to an alien species of entirely symbol-based communication for which to even understand what a “question” is, must be developed. Good thing the world would have time for such a laborious undertaking and wouldn’t likely be on the brink of planet-wide war. This is the premise of “Arrival,” a multi-layered sci-fi movie that hinges its dramatics on a linguist’s attempt to find a way to communicate with aliens amidst a ticking-time-bomb that is a Cold War standoff between international nations and extraterrestrials. Add to this a circular, non-linear time-space narrative that marries the unlocking of alien language to alternate realities, and “Arrival” stands as the smartest sci-fi offering of the year. When twelve unidentified flying objects land – or more so, ominously hover – over the…
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