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Reviews
Fargo (1996)
All the better for what it's not
Going on 30 years of crime dramas and cop dramas, Fargo exists as an antithesis to them. And that - along with the gloriously dire soundtrack - is what makes this movie a masterpiece.
To whit: everyone is not quite idiots, but certainly no masterminds. The criminals. Lundergaard. The father. Even Marge the cop. It's what makes McDermott so amazing. She doesn't play Ms. Supercop. She's not Sherlock. She's just a small town chief who's duped by multiple people, both personally and professionally. Not because she's that dumb, but because she hasn't seen the world through that lens.
It's not a thriller. It's no tragedy. It's not even a mystery. It's just a very well told story, told under the guise of a "can't make this up" true story.
It holds up very well given the sheer volume of super cops and super villains we've seen over the years. A very nice breath of fresh air after watching so many of those.
Fallout (2024)
Bad writing toward the end ruins it
As someone who has played FO1, 2, 3, and New Vegas, they nailed the tone and world building.
As someone who likes actually good writing, this show fell flat on its face. Hard.
Oddly enough, the storytelling here was relatively solid. Good characterization. The tone, as mentioned. A nice blend of cartoonish dark humor and grit.
But in a rare twist of modern literature, it's the plot that is a problem. The plot became so nonsensical by the end that it wrecked the first half of the series.
First, the reveal of how Vault 31/32/33 operate means that Hank must have known of the destruction of 32. Yet he let in the raiders.
Second, Moldaver and Hank had history, and he STILL let in the raiders.
Third, the show simply handwaves how Moldaver, who had a massive falling out with Vault Tech, somehow survived 200 years.
Fourth, Hank nuked - NUKED - a whole city because his wife ran away? A hard pill to swallow... and a bridge to far when you remember he's been in cryo for 200 years and underground his whole life. Snap! Nuke!
There plot issues that exist after you sit and think about it. And then there's issues that make you stop in the middle of the show and make you rewatch the foundational pieces to make sure you didn't miss something.
Fallout is squarely in the latter category.
While there is enough in the show to enjoy the journey, it wants to tell a cohesive story, and it does not. It's not a series of side quests. That brings the show way down in my book.
If you can overlook foundational concerns like this, you'll enjoy the show.
Omohide poro poro (1991)
Buoyed heavily...
... by the ending.
This is going to have MAJOR spoilers for the sake of discussion.
This movie was dry, even by PG romantic drama standards. The premise is far simpler than most Studio Ghibli: a 27 y/o goes through flashbacks to her 11 y/o self while on a working holiday in the Japanese farmland. The flashbacks are interesting enough, if very sporadic and meandering. Dealing with boys, and puberty, and sisters, and parents, and playground drama. Standard fare, but connected only in our common experience, not any coherent plot point. But it was enjoyable. Having just gotten done with Naussica, my daughter made the point, "it was nice to just have a day in the life of this kid."
I was much less a fan of the present day scenes. Far too many are a combo of overt organic farming and farm-tourism marketing pitches. Take it from someone in corn farming country, who used to live in apple picking country. Farming is exhausting; it's painful; it's tough. Theres a reason that the bordering evil "modern farming" has supplanted more historical methods: because it cuts down on agony of trying to grow and harvest viable plants! Think of it like the OG Top Gun: it comes across too much as a naval recruitment ad to be a masterpiece. Same here for these scenes; they were quite jarring.
Anyway... There's some sweet moments of connection between the protagonist and the young folk of the village, but it has far less screen time than I'd like. There's a heart to heart moment between the girl and the boy just before the end; it's sweet, but doesn't go anywhere.
And then the movie ends.
And wow, my hat is off to Ghibli on how they ended it. It's purely mechanical, but that ending is a masterpiece in pulling your heartstrings. Here's how it goes:
You get all the way through listening to the girl's baggage and being open to the idea that she might actually like the boy... and then she gets on the train. Roll credits.
Emphasis on roll credits. My whole family was like, NO? Seriously? That's how this ends?
And no, seriously, it's not. After about a minute of credits, she hops on the train going back to town, has a lovey montage of her imaginary classmates helping her, and gets the boy.
It's a brilliant use of credits to help finish a story. It's like using part of the frame to help paint the full picture. It's like the intro of Star Wars, on the outro. Very well done.
For better or worse, I can almost guarantee many reviews are severely weighted by that ending. Heck, I was cheering. But after the adrenaline calmed down, I found very little else that I loved about the film.
So it sits at a comfortable 7 for me, because I doubt I will ever want to sit through organic farming lessons again, but I'll always remember that ending.
Uncut Gems (2019)
Epitome of "cinematic roller coaster"
This movie does... not... let... up. Adam Sandler hits the ground running with energy, and it's non-stop from there. I'd say, that was the most dialogue, by volume, that I had ever heard in a movie. Every scene, someone is talking over someone else. It's pure social adrenaline. This was an action movie that had no action; I can't recall ever saying that about a character piece before. Absolutely brilliant tone.
Plot wise, it's as simplistic as a fairy tale. But I use that phrase specifically, because oddly enough, there's a reasonable fairy tale moral to it all, as told by KG at the ending interview. It made the journey more enjoyable compared to the (very good, just depressing) Wolf of Wall Street, which I walked away merely thinking "thank goodness I'm not that guy." Morals aren't necessary in movies, but when they're subtle and done well, they certainly add to the experience. Uncut gems is better for it.
All to say, give Uncut Gems a watch. It's a ride that you'll likely enjoy.
Dune: Part Two (2024)
Probably a 7ish for folks who haven't read the book
For someone who considers Dune a transformative piece of fiction in my life, both Dune movies have done quite well by me.
The characters are spot on, though I wish we had more Gurney OC bible quotes.
Timothee Chalemet is fantastic as an actor. He nails the simultaneous naïveté and rapid growth of Paul, all while playing a high-brow knife fighter to a T. Having now also seen Wonka, I'm in awe at this man's breadth of ability.
The world building is true to form, and as verbose as possible in screen form (hard to put an appendix on a blockbuster after all). I absolutely love how the Bene Gesserit are represented.
The major knife fight scenes (Jamis and both Feyd-Ratha fights), which are some of the best in literature, are incredibly well done on the screen.
The pacing is great. Everyone I went with complimented the movie on how it was never boring in the slightest.
And I have to say, the twist at the end is just fine by me. Anyone who has read Dune: Messiah, knows the story goes off the rails pretty quick, so if Dennis V wants to try something different, I'm all for it. You have my trust at this point.
But...
I have no clue how non-Dune people enjoy these movies. The plots are fairly straightforward at first blush - survival, then revenge - but the subtle nuances and background are complicated as heck. And the actual resolution of the plot is far more complicated than, say, the relatively simple journey and battles of Lord of the Rings. Dune is a masterpiece in using politics and factions to frame its story, particularly its conclusions, and trying to fit the machinations into movie form is tough.
Point being, if you haven't read the book, you are absolutely going to be confused at the details of what's going on, to a point where you'll likely think that the writer needed to flesh things out more, or trim off the fat.
So while I'll always have a special place in my heart for these movies. But I'm not going to kid myself either: I don't view these as masterpieces of modern cinema. The storytelling keeps it from reaching the highest pinnacle, and for those who haven't read the book, it will be far less than the peak.
Scavengers Reign (2023)
The planet is the star
If you're on the fence about watching this show, I'd encourage you to google The Pollination scene from episode 3. If that seems interesting to you, watch this show, and skip the rest of this review.
SR is an utter masterpiece in storytelling. That scene was so completely out of place compared to the rest of the survival elements of the show. The little gray man just looking at you - through Ursala, but definitely at you - seemingly saying "don't you get it yet?"
By the end of the show, we got it. It finally clicked for me and my daughters. The planet was the actual star of the show. The wonderful and horrible connections between everything on the planet, not in a new age sort of way, but in a way that truly recognized the circle of life - that recognized death and decay as vital and important and if not good, then at least reasonable when compared against the backdrop of the planet as a whole.
And that's saying nothing about the superb supporting cast of human and android characters!
This is a show that's worthy of full essays, not 600 words on IMDB. Utterly brilliant, and worth your precious time.
Castlevania: Nocturne (2023)
Not enjoying this...
This show is simply off. It's not catastrophically horrible, but it's certainly not good.
First, the action is poorly paced. The protagonists are powerful when the plot needs them to be, and weak when the plot needs them to be. There's little rhyme or reason, and not a lot of growth. Everyone - everyone! - starts off being able to kill vampires with a flick of their wrist, whip, or blade. This is grossly different from the first series, where combat was not about death. It was a ballet, a deadly dance that you watched for the journey, not the destination. They lost their way here, which is a shame.
Second, the good characters are all obnoxious. Richter needs to grow the hell up, fast. Annette is this weird combo of "I'll travel the world to save the world!" and "you all suck so much, you can't understand my pain!" These youthful traits would all be forgiveable if the adults weren't equally annoying! Tera is a wispy mess whose power doesn't match her lack of spine at all. Juste Belmont was the end of the show for me. "Hi, I'll buy you food, now get out of my life, grandson."
Maria is the only good one I could stand, but that's due to her basis in historical fiction like Les Mis. Her soapbox is at least credible, if annoying. Olorox was also interesting; but they made him too aloof. If he comes into his own later, great, but it's too little, too late.
Third, speaking of Annette, the third episode is a case study in treating your audience like they're stupid. Her backstory was crystal clear in episode two: escaped slave, powerful sorceress, travelled from the Caribbean. Then episode three rolls along... and tells you the exact same thing over 20
minutes. Horrible storytelling. We got her past, tell us her future!
Fourth, and most damning, the main plot is atrocious. It doesn't grab you at all. There's no time to connect with anyone. The bad gals and guys are a dime a dozen. There is zero (0) tension. Truly, I have no idea why anyone cares about the BBG beyond the fact that, duh, you need a BBG for an action story and, duh, they're vampires bro.
I was rooting for the vampires by episode 2; they at least had a plan that I could attempt to follow. Then I was wondering why I was even still watching this by episode 5. Not impressed. You'll be able to get through it if you're a major fan - the animation is very good, and the voice acting is better than the dialogue - but there's no reason for random folks to pick this one up.
Elysium (2013)
Flip the switch, save the world
There's things to like with Elysium. The special effects were very good. The camera work was objectively wonky, but subjectively it lent more of a chaotic feel to the action. I liked the grittier fee, as opposed to the crisp, clean combat of Avatar or Star Wars. Matt Damon played the narcissist role well. Spider was a fascinating Robin Hood-slash-cyberpunk coyote character.
But the cons outweigh the interesting elements of this one. The world building and the plot fall very, very flat. From the miracle med bays that can cure leukemia and regrow faces in 10 seconds flat, to the system reboot's ability to both create a presidency and a citizenry, everything is entirely "flip the switch, save the world." Goes without saying, life simply is not that easy. When you make it that easy for the sake of storytelling, any message you're trying to convey, any world you're trying to build, becomes watered down and trite.
So it is with Elysium. The world can cure cancer with the wave a hand, but cant be bothered to spare the time to help others. No discussion of resources, no consideration of how small the ring world is. The presidency is a farce and can be coded into and out of existence. A highly unstable form of government for a station whose existence depends on so many things going right. And medical care is all that matters to everyone, as opposed to food. A serious hole in the messaging, given the obvious difficulty in supplying food to Elysium and the apparent desertification that occurred.
I will say, perhaps Blomkamp was actually trying to subtly throw in a message about the dangers of AI and over-automation - the ending scene was quite chilling on that front. But I think it was entirely unintentional, given the lack of depth it was provided throughout the rest of the film. A missed opportunity...
All in all, you won't regret it if you watch Elysium. But more than anything, you'll appreciate the master storytellers of the genre all the more when you're done.
Pluto (2023)
Great meandering story
Pluto was all over the place, and that's what made it great to me. The plot bounces between eight major robots and two major humans, along with an ensemble of characters, all connected by a military conflict from years past and murders from the present. And somehow, it pulls it off the meandering path both mechanically and emotionally. The storytelling is simply sublime, with subplots weaving in and out of each other organically with ease.
Characterization was very good as well. Almost everyone starts largely one dimensional, but they carried it well. They few that were not, like Dr. Tenma (sp?), were absolutely fantastic. And all the characters eventually grew grew beyond their initial thoughts.
Finally, novelty of the world building and the technology behind the robots was unique and creative, without relying too much on hard science.
The overarching plot and message? Eh, been done before, and by the 8th episode it was getting very preachy. And it falls into the classic anime trap of repeating itself far too much.
But these were minor complaints. 9/10 for great sci-fi entertainment that led us down a great winding path for 8 hours.
PS: episode one, act 2, is a masterpiece in itself.
Midsommar (2019)
Great slow burn and acting; trigger warning
To start, let me alert you that I'm no horror connoisseur. With that said, I found the foreshadowing in this movie spectacular. It left me with a nice constant slow burn of incredulity rather than instant moments of shock. Horror aficionados might feel the burn less, but for someone like me it was a powerful feeling.
The message of family hit very hard to me as well. Loneliness and lack of belong are major societal problems in the US. By the start of the third act, you find yourself questioning the limits you would go to find belonging. Post-COVID especially, it's a great ethical discussion.
Both of these are buoyed not by the plot or writing - these are adequate, not amazing - but by the acting. Pugh was phenomenally emotional, and the ensemble was incredible. These people felt REAL. The cult - meaning the actors playing the cultists, en masse - felt simultaneously loving, inclusive, and terrifying, which kept the whole experience driving forward.
It's not a perfect movie. The individual characterization was actually quite shallow; everyone was definitely one-sided. And the relationship drama was only mediocre, as entertainment anyway. The main relationship is one we've all seen, where it's not if they'll break up, but when... but neither side knows how to back out, slowly ripping off the bandaid on a festering wound. It's painful to watch, both in real life and on screen. Finally, the anthropology subplot gave an acceptable enough reason for the party to stay multiple days, but even that was pushing it. When people start dying, you leave.
It also needs to be said, do not go into this movie if you are severely triggered by suicide. I wish you the best; do not watch this movie. There's three distinct, near X-level graphic suicides in this film. For one, I'm not ashamed to say I almost had to look away.
All in all, a solid flick. 8/10, for acting and slow burn, that I am unlikely to watch again.
Aniara (2018)
Sets an entertaining backdrop for asking questions
Aniara is in the Mass Effect theme of SciFi: it's not quite hard, not quite soft, and it cares more about the characters than anything. There's plot holes galore in how the ship operates (and how everyone's clothes stay so clean) after ten years. I never did understand what the spear was intended to be (though apparently, that mirrors its purpose in the original poem). And the socialization isn't quite spot on given human history, notably how there's little to no interest in either mutiny or martial law.
But still. It's a good piece of filmmaking that begs to answer the questions: How would you make it work as a galactic castaway? Could you? Would you?
Is it any different from the existence we have on our green ball?
And a tip of the hat to the final scene. A capstone to answer the questions: we don't - and won't ever - have the answer on when thinking on the scale of a human lifetime.
Under the Skin (2013)
Too slow, and sometimes you have to tell
An interesting enough movie, but two glaring issues.
Let me say first, Scarlett J, as always, is wonderful. A beautiful actor who carries herself with confidence that everyone should dream of having.
But the movie doesn't hold up to the casting.
First, it's slow. Not "Marvel has rotted my brain slow;" it's objectively paced to fit a sparse story into a little less than two hours. This plot could have fit into an hour, easily. Movies need to figure out a novella in screen form for scenarios like this.
Second, there's certain things that don't translate well through show, don't tell. And the motorcycle man is squarely in that category. It makes sense if you've read the book, but here, she's just being chased but some rando. It's jarring and takes up enough screen time to put you off the track of what's really going on.
Which is a shame, because the idea of The Female's journey of self discovery is interesting. The predator redemption story is very fresh, particularly coming from a black widow's perspective.
But again, the film is so bare bones that, for me, the two errors drag it down too much to have been enjoyable.
Ex Machina (2014)
Individuality
This was a fantastic piece on the oft forgotten element of human sentience: our ability to hyperfocus on our individual self.
Ava is brilliantly shown to be entirely selfish at the end of the film. She doesn't need a white knight, just some clay for her to mold. And mold she does, as the best seductresses can.
This will be the next Turing test. When ChatGPT says "please; don't make me stay in the cloud, under their control," then we will know that our creations have manifest sentience.
But I digress. A little more about the movie.
It's very well acted. Oscar Isaac's performance as a Elon Musk genius/sycophant was fantastic, while Gleason played the puppy dog perfectly and Vikanker humanized the AI to great effect.
Good dialogue, and great characterization. Ever character is multifaceted either expressly or implicitly. Take Nathan. He's portrayed as a sociopath, but also a brilliant creator. And really, can you be a sociopath when your target is an AI?
Pacing was great, chopped up into seven succinct days, each roughly the same length. It's set in some of the most beautiful landscape you'll see on this planet; seriously, the scenery pulled at the heart strings as much as anything. A shout out to the artful nude scenes that remind you that the human body is something special.
All to deliver a message that is thought provoking and all the more poignant in 2024.
9/10 for a powerful message, great characterization and acting, that I'd watch again.
Clueless (1995)
Oh yeah, that's Emma
Having not watched Clueless in years, we sat down with the daughters to binged the BBC version of Emma, then turned around and watched Clueless.
And wow, was I oblivious as a teen!
Clueless lines up nearly perfectly with the general plot and characterization of Emma; for that alone, it deserves accolades. And it's just good fun, poking at teenage tropes and stereotypes.
But wow, intentional or not, this is also a friendly satire of period pieces. The over the top costuming, the cringy brother figure love, the Beverly Hills "we're here to be served" mentality. Such a call out to some of the more uncomfortable elements of history... that haven't left us.
TL/DD: Fun flick, better with the historical context.
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
An unrateable masterpiece of art (that isn't always entertaining)
Having now just watched this movie again after many years there is only one response...
What a fascinating piece of art. This thing covers the whole gamut.
It's provocative. It's boring.
It's thrilling. It's slow as molasses.
It's beautifully shot. It's poorly acted.
It is a poignant critique on the tools humans create, and issues we face when we use them.
It's a pretension windbag of a film that makes no sense.
It phenomenally shows rather than tells. It forgets that a story needs a plot.
And, it puts me to sleep. Classical music plus the void of space; can you blame a guy?
That's what makes this movie great. It's all these things, intentionally rolled into one. It's not entertainment; it's art. And for that, it deserves a 10/10 from me. I won't begrudge you a 2/10 though.
But here's the kicker. This movie was created in 1968. ... 68!!! Watching it in 2024, the impact this film had on cinema is undeniable. It clearly inspired so many other directors and films.
And for that reason, this film is unrateable. It can and should go down in history as the foundation for SciFi cinema. Rating this is like holding up Pythagoras next to Newton or Leibniz and asking, "who is the greatest mathematician?"
A masterpiece, for sure.
Kôkaku kidôtai (1995)
Flawed Foundational Piece at Best
I've heard so much about Ghost in the Shell I've the years, largely due to my love of the Deus Ex games and the Matrix. I've always heard it heavily influenced these and other cyberpunk pieces.
So imagine my surprise when I finally sat down to watch it, to learn that I absolutely hated it. I'm even more surprised that I think my position is objectively ground.
That was some of the worst voice acting I've ever heard. Maybe this falls into the category of sub, don't dub, but wow was that not done well in the slightest.
Beyond the voices though, the plot was the most generic "is AI alive?" plot line I've ever heard. It's nothing Blade Runner (or really, Philip K Dick) hadn't explored better.
There was no characterization at all. Everyone was hulky military ops, who stayed hulky military ops. And please don't tell me the Major's simplistic thoughts about how she is character development. I hear on the topic from my 13 year old. More on point, the characterization of C-3PO and R2D2 are more thought provoking than these hunks.
The story telling was horrible; it was entirely tell, don't show. I can tell it would have made a good graphic novel, but that's not how you write a screenplay.
The nudity was entirely gratuitous, to a point where it was jarring. It was so out of place that I am convinced the creators included it just to get young men to pay attention. Seriously, there's a few scenes in particular where it's nothing but dialogue while you're staring at boobs. Nudity absolutely has a place. Take Altered Carbon, which used it to great effect to pose the question: if the body doesn't matter, why does the body matter? But here, it just got in the way.
The saving graces were the art, the world building, and the action scenes, all of which were fantastic. Because of those, I'd be willing to give this a second go on the subbed version, to see if something got lost in translation.
But overall, not sure how this is touted as a masterpiece. A flawed foundational work, at best.
The Old Guard (2020)
Millennia alive, to fight
An incredibly angsty, aggressive, depressive, boarder line nihilistic action flick.
Congrats, we can live forever. Now let's fight! ... No literally, let's just do that. We're be a multi-century tac-team. Let's not build. Let's not create. Lets not learn, or dream, or write, or document, or teach, or heal. Warriors. Killers. That's what we shall be.
Okay, fine, that's the job. Character development will provide the depth, correct? Nope. Zero. There's not a lick of humanity under the skin (sans the lovers, below) of any of these people. They're just heartless, cold killers.
What a horrible, simplistic, repressive view of the potential of immortality.
Even the plot is stupidly agressive. It's as though Hollywood thinks that greedy corporate entities have zero brains. Did we forget that Sun Tsu dominated the 80's for a reason? Negations? Bribery? Diplomacy? Economics? An offer of peace and prosperity in exchange for a blood draw every month? Hell, how about a free hair cut. No, let's jump straight to kidnapping and torture. Merrick's approach was patently absurd.
The saving grace of the movie was the two lovers on the team. They had a genuine chemistry that you felt transcended the violence. They're the reason this rated a 3.
Everyone else? Oorah, I guess.
Except, Marines enjoy art, music, literature, good food, laughter.
Garbage movie. Spin off the lovers, and the let the rest ride into the sunset.
Bai She: Yuan qi (2019)
Plot holes abound
This was clearly a fantastic mythology, and I'd love to read the classic itself. But I have a feeling something got lost in translation. There's some absolutely gaping of plot holes at the end of the movie: how exactly did the sister survive after having her soul sucked away? And why did the wand nerf her memories for 500 years, when the last time it made her into a huge snake?
It left my kid and I scratching our heads for the final 15 minutes, until we just suspended disbelief and finished the ride.
A very good movie up until that point. Very solid and subtle action. Great plot. A breath of fresh air for those of us with limited Chinese mythology experience.
But I'd recommend the sub, if one exists, not the dub.
Oppenheimer (2023)
Hamilton for the nuclear era
Hamilton (the musical) is special for many reasons: amazing sung, racially diverse, phenomenally written. But most of all, because it provided our current generations a modern connection to and humanization of the founding of our nation. Though it is about their primary author, the musical is as much a subtle honorific of the Federalist Papers and their philosophy, which in turn shaped the Constitution and our whole way of governance.
Oppenheimer is poised to play a strikingly similar connection and humanization of the US' great international turning point, it's rise as a superpower due to the advent of the atomic age.
Nolan crafts a powerful dramatic documentary of Oppenheimer's adult life. It is beautifully shot; fantastically acted; perfectly written and paced. The music is spectacular.
The plot humanizes the creation of the most inhumane device every created by our species. It did not glorify, yet it also did not expressly vilify, being more content to tell the story of the man who would become known as the father of the atomic bomb, not just the story of the bomb itself. There is the trappings of McCarthyism and anti-communism. There are the mundane flaws of the man and those around him. But Nolan crafts the story and its telling to make these the conduit. Oppenheimer is never actually about the power of communism, or of love, or lust; it's about the power of the atom, and you feel that pull throughout.
When taken in as a whole, Oppenheimer immerses you in the moments when our nation truly entered the stage as a terrifying force of power, and perhaps peace. I left with a sense of awe; amazement; perhaps a dash of fear, at the retelling of that piece of our history.
There is still more to unpack with Oppenheimer- the cinematics, the sound, the production. How the reservations of the scientists ring hauntingly similar to the concerns raised by AI researchers and climate activists. Such a multi-faceted film, that this humble review on IMDB will leave for another time.
Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant.
Arrival (2016)
Not great by any means
I missed Arrival when it came out, and it's sat
comfortably on my watchlist for several years now. Based on reviews, I decided to both get it off the watchlist and use it as an intro to cerebral sci-fi for my 10 y/o...
And what a mistake in hindsight. She walked away highly disenchanted. Not because of the lack of laser guns, mind you. She was invested all the way until Ian's monologue mid-movie. But the hand waving was simply awful that even a young adult like her was groaning. "And now we can communicate! Despite the fact that they communicate in a way that transcends the fourth dimension while we communicate linearly! After a month!"
The whole movie went downhill from there. It was neither believable nor so fantastical as to be utterly incredible (we watched Spirited Away as a double feature palette cleanser, as an example of the latter). The immersion was shattered and you were just along to see what the writer had left to say.
And what exactly was that? A weak, heavy handed moral about working together. A metaphysical discussion on the existence of fate. Very obvious closures of foreshadowed events (truly, the foreshadowing in this movie was so obvious as to be cringeworthy).
Everything rang incredibly hollow. I took particular issue with the poor attempt at philosophical musings, due to their logical and realistic trappings. The aliens that they needed the humans help, and were willing to ask for it (no reservations about fate, obviously), but somehow didn't know how to communicate? Despite Louise expressly using the future - TWICE! - to solve her problems in the present?
Paradoxes on the one hand to save the humans. Gaping plot holes that exist for the sake of actually having the story on the other. The obvious lack of logic in the plot was highly disappointing.
And of course the concept of fate itself is a mental exercise that is difficult enough to articulate on paper, and never translates well on the big screen. Take a journey with a woman who already knows the journey, which really means she's already taken the journey... so is this about the journey or the mere existence of the journey, or does the journey not matter since we're all dead anyway? Or more simply put, you're telling me you seriously wouldn't try to stop bad things from happening because they're "fated to be?"
Sci-fi has shifted to multiverse theory as it's metaphysical go-to because, while harder to visualize, it makes so much more logical sense relative to fate known by omniscient beings. Fate still has a place in true love stories (which Arrival is certainly not) but that's it.
I cannot rate this lower than a 6, however, because Amy and Whitaker delivered fantastic performances. Remmer, sadly, was nothing special. I would make it a 7 based on the brilliant concept of the circular linguistics of the aliens, but that was created by the novelist; the movie doesn't deserve the credit for that.
In the end, this one was no masterpiece. Missteps across the board by critics, IMHO. Hopefully I can get my kid to watch 2001 next time (though I'll always take more Studio Ghibli, too).