ARRIVAL FILM CRITIQUE

Actress Amy Adams as Louise Banks, a linguist

She started off in the movie as a single mother, caring for her daughter from young age, through her adolescent age until teenage years before she succumbed to an incurable illness.

This setting hangs dreary mood over the character Louise as a mother whom has just lost her daughter, and had nothing to lose. This character seemed perfect to play the protagonist as she can risk everything to counter what seemed to be an invasion of aliens on earth. This cast design seems more than ready to meet some action and paving way for a good storyline ahead.

From the start of the alien invasion arc, she has been more than willing to join in on the action, albeit through some obstacles. After having joined amongst the military ranks, she embarked on the expedition to solve the question as to why the aliens have come to planet earth. Much to my surprise, her acting was more than expected of her. She has shown anxiety and anxiousness right before showdown meeting with the aliens and upon arriving at the Montana campsite, where one of the 12 alien shells had set foot on.

The richness of her acting coupled along with her bottomless expression of anxiety and experiencing lapses in consciousness in the lead up to the departure to the alien ship surely had the viewers trembling in excitement in their seats.

Deeper into the plot, her character grows even further and with her acting keeping up with the pace she had set in the initial invasion arc, the richness of the plot is kept going along with Louise. The plot twist came as it is revealed that she has been having flashforwards rather than flashback of the death of her daughter. This should be a shock to the viewers but incredibly achieved through masterful plot and play acting of the character Louise Banks.

All in all, I do believe that this character is well played, expressed and explored as the viewers slowly visualize the unravelling of the plot and the character Louise was great in depth, always kept in relevant purposes, well designed and never a single moment dull.

Actor Jeremy Renner as Ian Donnelly, a theoretical physicist

The introduction of this character seems much more straightforward compared to Louise Banks as no short bursts of introduction was given beforehand and was put straight into action as the plot was heading towards the Montana military campsite.

Jeremy Renner was a solid cast for this role, as he has been playing in numerous blockbuster films, such as Mission Impossible, The Marvel Cinematic Universe, Bourne Legacy, and so on. Since his resume and portfolio of play acting was never in doubt, his character injected the much needed stability to the plot which was needed by the viewer to buy into the whole plot of this massive alien invasion scenario. He oozed confidence throughout, always playing the supporting role to Louise to carry the plot forward, as they both work on unravelling the true purpose behind this alien invasion.

He played his role diligently, in the sense that he contributed just as much work as Louise in the process of negotiating a communication medium between humans and the aliens. In the absence of the main protagonist, Louise, he kept the plot going by revealing the last piece of information given by Abbott was just one part of a total of twelve, as Louise was kept occupied by her repetitive obstructive hallucinations.

As his character grew along with the plot, it is revealed he will play a large role in the protagonist’ future as he will be Louise’s future husband and the father to her daughter.

All in all, the character lacked depth, in which he had less history coming into the plot and was just slotted in midway into the plot, which require more time for the viewers to understand the origin of the character. He was however, being kept hugely relevant in the movie as the plot progresses with him continuing to unravel the aliens’ intriguing plot. The character was well designed and placed to play this role fluently and allow it to grow exponentially into the plot. All that being said, it was almost certain that this character is thoroughly explored and further expanded throughout the whole plot.

Forest Whittaker as Colonel GT Weber, a senior US Military officer

The character was introduced almost immediately as the counter part of the protagonist in the early screen time. He offers an opportunity for Louise Banks to enter the team to investigate the current alien invasion. He offers a muscular figure, tall and bold, very suited to that of a military colonel, and able to make wise decision under significant duress.

His character doesn't need much history as he is a relatively straightforward character where his end point in the plot is highly predictable. His main purpose amongst the cast were to be the man behind the military course of actions and decision making.

He was a solid cast as he never shown any signs of stress under the duress of the alien invasion while at the same time oozing charismatic leadership. He was there to add the scenario of depleting time where the world is descending into chaos as time taken to communicate with the alien is ever increasing.

As for the exploration of this character, it was never really necessary as his role in the film is rather straightforward and never needed any depth to it.

Michael Stuhlbarg as Agent David Halpern, Head of CIA

This character was introduced when all the cast has been assembled and when the plot is running. He is introduced as part of the CIA team negotiating trade of information between countries. He is always acting in the favour of the best national interest and rarely gives any leeway in this matter. As such, he plays a mild role of an antagonist as he frequently obstructs the actions of the protagonist throughout the film.

Similar to Colonel GT Weber, he does not require much character history but he does bring a whiff of unpredictability into the plot. The acting was sometimes a bit jaded when he is too aggressive with his obstructive actions and not more commanding as he should be.

Other than the actions of the plot taking place in the camp, this character does not get any further screen time and as such, the character was only negotiating one sole purpose throughout the film.

Tzi Ma as General Shang, General of The People's Republic of China Army

This is character that was never going to boast a moderate amount of screen time. Yet, the influence he holds on the plot is visibly high. He dictated the speed of the plot where China influenced other countries to act in a hostile manner against the aliens. He did well and achieved his main purpose in the plot, while never requiring any further depth to his character.

He speaks fluent english, never hindering the progress or ambience of the film during his highly limited screen time. His facial appearance also somewhat resembles that of a high position Chinese military official, which points to a well designed cast, and did well of what was expected of him.