by: Brian Truitt , USA TODAY
Arrival is such a beautiful and thought-provoking film that it almost single-handedly makes up for every bad aliens-coming-to-Earth film you’ve ever seen. Yes, even Independence Day: Resurgence.
The latest from director Denis Villeneuve (Sicario) is a sci-fi movie (**** out of four; rated PG-13; in theaters nationwide Friday) about life, death and learning a literally alien language on a deadline.Amy Adams turns in one of her best performances, Jeremy Renner shows he’s just as good a math geek as an Avenger, and Villeneuve puts a gorgeous and rich narrative on screen that’s as much about miscommunication among humans as it is communication with extraterrestrials.
Louise Banks (Adams) is a linguistics professor stuck in a deep melancholy after the loss of her young daughter. She’s yanked out of that malaise when 12 huge alien pods shaped like half-eggs descend throughout the world. The government wants to figure out why they’re here, and Louise and physicist Ian Donnelly (Renner) are recruited by Colonel Weber (Forest Whitaker) to decipher the aliens’ inky, circular messages.
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