Movie Review - Arrival

This movie has received a pretty good buzz since release on the big screen and it had been at least a year since the last time I went to the inconvenience of going to a movie theater to enjoy a movie. We went to the Regal Theater (get your Regal Gift Card!) in Granada Hills and overall it was a generally good experience. Arrival lived up to hype, in my opinion. It was smart, Jeremy Renner was only a little annoying, and Forest Whitaker was admirable in his role. Amy Adams also was surprisingly good in her role as an affected human with the right skills to help the world address the situation at hand. There was plenty of wonderful philosophical points made, and excellent characterizations that make this film palpable. If the closest comparison is Contact (Jodi Foster), I'd say it was less dogmatic and tried less - effectively doing more and it was appreciated. Apparently, the aliens feel writing is a abhorrent waste of energy so I'll stop wasting your time with too much blather. Take it from a real sci-fi old-skooler, this was worth making the time for even though I'm sure it'll look just as good on my smart TV. 7/10 FMPU Stars