Plot:
When mysterious spaceships land in various locations around the world, the military hires an elite team consisting of linguist Louise Banks (played by Amy Adams), theoretical physicist Ian Donnelly (played by Jeremy Renner) and Colonel Weber (played by Forest Whitaker) to investigate. As mankind is on the verge of global war due to this, Louise must learn the language of the aliens to allow communications, and the team must determine whether these alien crafts simply come in peace - or are a threat to humanity.
Prelude:
Now, before going to this movie, I had preconceived notions. I've watched these movies that come during awards season(November-December), and they are all slow, with little to no dialogues, and I expected to be bored to shit, but, in the past few months, I watched a ton of movies, and learned more about film-making, et al, so, I was a little optimistic, and this time, it really paid off.
Pro's:
Amy Adams: The lead character. She is fantastic in this movie. She pretty much carries the movie.
Direction: It's very well done. The director builds a lot of tension and suspense, and of course, the film has excellent cinematography.
Editing: The film is filled with long takes, with great actors complementing it. There's no unnecessary and useless cuts.
Acting: All the actors have done a very good job.
The interaction between the aliens and Amy Adams' character.
The first and second acts in particular.
The direction taken by the movie in the third act.
Con's:
The third act feels rushed.
The movie feels incomplete.
Sometimes, the painfully slow pacing may put you off.
The deciphering of the aliens' language felt a bit rushed. And, it was also bogged down by an info-dump exposition scene.
Verdict:
Now, this is not your usual alien invasion movie with explosions and gun fights. This is a very suspenseful movie with a lot of tension and drama, with excellent direction and acting. My score: 8/10.
When mysterious spaceships land in various locations around the world, the military hires an elite team consisting of linguist Louise Banks (played by Amy Adams), theoretical physicist Ian Donnelly (played by Jeremy Renner) and Colonel Weber (played by Forest Whitaker) to investigate. As mankind is on the verge of global war due to this, Louise must learn the language of the aliens to allow communications, and the team must determine whether these alien crafts simply come in peace - or are a threat to humanity.
Prelude:
Now, before going to this movie, I had preconceived notions. I've watched these movies that come during awards season(November-December), and they are all slow, with little to no dialogues, and I expected to be bored to shit, but, in the past few months, I watched a ton of movies, and learned more about film-making, et al, so, I was a little optimistic, and this time, it really paid off.
Pro's:
Amy Adams: The lead character. She is fantastic in this movie. She pretty much carries the movie.
Direction: It's very well done. The director builds a lot of tension and suspense, and of course, the film has excellent cinematography.
Editing: The film is filled with long takes, with great actors complementing it. There's no unnecessary and useless cuts.
Acting: All the actors have done a very good job.
The interaction between the aliens and Amy Adams' character.
The first and second acts in particular.
The direction taken by the movie in the third act.
Con's:
The third act feels rushed.
The movie feels incomplete.
Sometimes, the painfully slow pacing may put you off.
The deciphering of the aliens' language felt a bit rushed. And, it was also bogged down by an info-dump exposition scene.
Verdict:
Now, this is not your usual alien invasion movie with explosions and gun fights. This is a very suspenseful movie with a lot of tension and drama, with excellent direction and acting. My score: 8/10.
