SYNOPSIS: When mysterious spacecraft touch down across the globe, an elite team - lead by expert linguist Louise Banks (Amy Adams) - are brought together to investigate. As mankind teeters on the verge of global war, Banks and the team race against time for answers – and to find them, she will take a chance that could threaten her life, and quite possibly humanity.

REVIEW: You'll die Can you imagine!? That question might present itself in your mind as you watch this masterful rendition of a would-be typical "alien comes to Earth" movie. What makes this movie special is that it is NOT a typical alien movie by far. It is quite realistic which is why the question might pop up in your head. Can you imagine if this were to happen for real? This film almost seems like it's not sci-fi because of its thought provoking drama and mystery (again, not typical). It is gloomy and extremely eerie, it is deep and suspenseful, and it is very intelligent (not typical). It is a very well made film and overall it is WOW, not what you'd expect. Now having said all that, it still might remind you of so many of the others. In major ways or even the slightest of ways it could remind you of films like Close Encounters of the Third Kind, District 9, Oblivion, and The Day the Earth Stood Still. Of these, Close Encounters might be the best comparison. This film focuses heavily on the various questions we would have about them if something like this were to happen, which then presents the need to be able to communicate with them . . . no easy task. This is where Amy Adams' character comes in. As it is with any foreign entity, there is a fine line between peaceful intentions or not so peaceful intentions and it is imperative that we find out which it is as soon as possible.

A major contribution to the uniqueness of this movie is the fantastic job done by the cast, most specifically, Amy Adams. She really outshines everyone else in the cast and carries the movie with ease. Her performance is a huge piece of making this movie what it is. Jeremy Renner was pretty good too but didn't stand out as much. The other scene stealers are the alien ship and the aliens themselves . . . absolutely amazing. Another contribution to the quality of this movie is the fine job of cinematography. The way the alien ship is shown, the various landscapes, and the alien interactions scenes all added to the effect. Incorporated in that is of course the visual effects. These visual effects, however, were more about keeping the movie grounded and real and less sci-fi. Speaking of adding to the effect, the sound effects and background music were instrumental (yeah, I had to) in helping set the mood from scene to scene. Practically all movies have some amount of music incorporated into them, but not all of them have music give such a strong effect to whatever is going on in the scene. The music is strong with this one.

Once you realize that it's Director Denis Villeneuve at the helm of this film and that he directed Sicario and Prisoners, well, everything just seems to fall into place. Undoubtedly he knows how to film drama in various scenarios and film it well. So if you've seen those excellent movies, carry that look and feel into a film about an alien visit and you've got Arrival.