The Arrival
After a sting-in-its-tail opening where we learn that Amy Adams’ Louise Banks has tragically lost her teenage daughter to cancer, the world stands still as several alien ships arrive in locations around the planet. As one of the world’s leading linguists, Banks is approached by the government and asked to, along with the help of Jeremy Renner’s theoretical physicist Ian Donnelly, open a line of communication between America and its new guests, mirroring the efforts of every other nation in a bid to decipher the aliens’ insanely-cryptic language so as to understand their currently ambiguous intent.
A somewhat unusual sci-fi which bears similarities to the likes of War of the Worlds and Independence Day in basic concept alone, the film echoes more The Day the Earth Stood Still vibes – minus the action – with the suggestion towards our species’ reluctance for peace, but standing alone in its unique execution. But while The Arrival never truly lands, between the film’s running commentary on our inability to communicate as an international community and its moderately-clever twist, there’s more here than not. And with screen-filling explosions, cheesy one-liners, and hateful aliens entirely absent, it still remains narratively, cinematically, creatively and visually superior than this year’s hideous Independence Day: Resurgence.
Allied
Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard star in Robert Zemeckis’ WW2 spy-mystery, in which Pitt’s intelligence officer Max Vatan is assigned on a deadly mission alongside brilliant French resistance fighter Marianne Beausejoir, with whom he must rendezvous behind enemy lines and also pretend to be married to get near to their target. But their guise quickly turns into something more and they wind up starting a family in London, while the war continues to rage overhead and, of course, in the shadows. However, when Max’s superiors bring to him information that suggests his wife may be a notorious German spy living under an alias – one to which she is irrevocably committed – he embarks on an unsanctioned mission to uncover the truth.
For the most part, Allied is an enjoyable guessing game, but towards and during the third act, it’s downright predictable. Perhaps it’s the casting choice, given Cotillard’s equally-deceptive role in 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises, or perhaps it’s better measured a love story than it is any kind of mystery or espionage thriller, reaching more poignant heights than it ever does suspense. And with the first half stronger than its last, in terms of both action and tension, this is hardly the Mr & Mrs Smith of 2016 you might have expected. Still, that can only be a good thing.
