Trailer Review 028 Arrival First Trailer [Paramount]

Arrival
[111116] Chance of Success =  90%

As a sci-fi exercise for the director of the upcoming sequel to the much loved sci-fi noir, Blade Runner, we could see how he would handle this particular genre after deftly handling a personal psychological thriller [Enemy], an intimate family crime drama [Prisoners] and the most recent war on crime thriller [Sicario].

It is only natural for him to keep increasing the scale of his movies, with this genre of alien arrival (or invasion?) presented to him a huge canvas to paint on, and based on the first trailer, it is going to be amazing. Although his previous partnership with the stellar cinematographer, Roger Deakins, would only resume again for the aforementioned follow-up, Bradford Young [Selma] looks to be not at all a downgrade, with the opening shot above as a perfect representation of his abilities with the camera.

As the only linguist (Amy Adams) picked up by the government for confidentiality, she is tasked in spearheading the initiative to investigate the unidentifiable foreign floating object, with the precaution of a whole squadron of army monitoring the situation. With (apparent) casualty already in on the board, she is understandably trembling to tackle the intimidating task to go in through a door that opens every 18 hours. It dawns on them when they are from the gravitational pull as they reached a certain height in the 'shell,' as they float up into some sort of a room or deck completely upside down from the way they come in.

As the bird in the cage is definitely agitated in its cage, the linguist makes a daring move to strip off the protective suit and makes a direct contact with the surface of the glass that is seemingly separating the room in two (or more possibly to contain the atmosphere of the aliens that keeps them alive, as per usual for this type of premise). As her hand touches it, the other lifeform from the other side of the barrier also does the same (watch the trailer if you want to know how its 'hand' looks), appears to be an understanding of her intention and as she put it, "a proper introduction." 

With other similar UFOs have landed all around the world and since her gamble pays off, she is pressed to interact with it and try to speak their language, which she successfully earns and learn when the extraterrestrial reply back in its own way, conjuring up a sphere-like material that she deduced is their own specific way of writing.

Two days she gets to try to communicate with their species, trying to make sure they understand each other and differentiate the concept of a weapon and a tool because the survival of humanity could depend on it. There is a possibility of her misinterpreting their language as one word could have two meanings and a possibility of her having more psychic connection with them as the whole world trying to work together towards one purpose while a few already make their own decisions, being hostile instead of cooperating. 

As the time is running out before all nations start to bear arms and begin a war against them, the linguist makes a daring last attempt to clarify their intentions by being inside the ship when the door closes. The shell then starts to float away with her on tow while the other eleven around the world appear to change their position from the original vertical to horizontal with the military presence on sight appeared to be giving hostile feedback as the trailer cut after two helicopters fired a number of rockets towards an unseen target.

- Synopsis -

A linguist is recruited by the military to assist in translating alien communications.

Cast
Amy Adams - Dr. Louise Banks
Jeremy Renner - Ian Donnelly
Forest Whitaker - Colonel Weber
...

-  8.8/10 - wiki - 100%/99% -

(Original Story - Story of Your Life by Ted Chiang, Director - Denis Villeneuve [Enemy, Prisoners, Sicario], Budget $50 Millions,  Duration 1h 56min, Genre - Alien, Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi)

+ Highlights: the shot from the house, beautiful panoramic helicopter scene, awe-inspiring first look of the UFO in a vast field, the entering scene into the shell, the literal canary in a coal mine, the first reveal of the alien, inventive design of the language, a more intellectual approach on the alien arrival premise, the reveal of human true nature in front of something unknown, the massive scale of it, somber and atmospheric soundtrack, just enough being revealed in the trailer to entice people to see the movie and not too much to right awayspoil it for them

- Lowlights: a familiar design of the alien (albeit only the palm of the hand is visible), the trailer certainly gives the whole storyline away