Now that’s a proper introduction.
Jeff Goldblum once saved us all from invading aliens by uploading some malware off a floppy disk, but in Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival, Amy Adams looks like she’s trying to give peace a chance. As a master linguist, her character takes her cues from Richard Dreyfuss and his light-up keyboard in Close Encounters, attempting to translate the most foreign language imaginable without a Rosetta Stone in sight, all in the hopes that she can find common ground with the creatures before the other 7 billion humans on earth get trigger happy.
Let’s hope they don’t say anything about “serving man.”
The script from Eric Heisserer was adapted from the excellent, Nebula Award-winning novella Story of Your Life by Ted Chiang, and if you’re wondering why the trailer looks so gorgeous, it’s because it was shot by Bradford Young, the cinematographer behind Selma and Ain’t Them Bodies Saints who is due an Oscar nomination any day now. After Prisoners and Sicario, Villeneuve has proven a knack for abominable human drama and keeping an audience’s blood pressure continually high. Arrival looks no different, and it will also act as a tease for what his upcoming Blade Runner might be like, offering us a hint of this talented thriller director playing in the sci-fi sandbox.
Plus, as if it weren’t obvious, the star power is in full effect here. Adams is a five-time Oscar nominee, Renner’s been nominated twice, Forest Whitaker is an Oscar winner, and Villeneuve won the Palme d’Or last year (as well as a long list or laurels proving his film festival cred). If Gravity and Interstellar opened up a science fiction slot at the Academy Awards, maybe Arrival is looking to fill it. But even if it’s not gunning for statues, everything about it looks fantastic. November 11th should be marked on your calendar.
Are you looking forward to Arrival? Let us know in the comments below!
Image: Paramount Pictures
