BTMA Movie Review | Arrival

What's BTMA? It stands for "book to movie adaptation". 

Movie Release Date: November 11, 2016
MPAA Rating: PG-13 | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi  | 1 hr 56 min
Watch Date: November 7, 2016
Rating: 4/5

This review is spoiler free, so if you haven't read the book or seen the movie yet, no worries, I've got you covered! 

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​Previously published as Stories of Your Life and Others. The book includes "Story Of Your Life," the basis for the major motion picture Arrival, 

I read the short story prior to seeing the movie. I always enjoy experiencing how the story is interpreted by the movie writers and directors.  I really enjoyed the short story, so going into the movie I was excited to see what was in store. 

Overall they did take expected liberties and changed some notable things, but even with those changes, it was a strong adaption and maintained the framework of the original story.  ​Well before I read the short story, I found the movie trailer just amazing. After seeing the movie, I felt that the trailer wasn't a good representation of what the movie delivered. I enjoyed the movie, so it was a small thing, but it still was one of the things that I noted in my first reactions. So just be aware of that.

The movie was thought provoking and enjoyable.  I expected more action, a faster plot, and a few other things. But on the flip-side, while the movie was a slow burn, the payoff was worth it.  The aliens looked amazing, and the plot twist reveal was very "ah ha!".  This movie explores what happens when Aliens arrive and the world doesn't know how to understand them, what's happening, why they are here, and what they want. How do we as humans deal with the unknown factors. Can a Linguistics professor save the world from doing something dumb? Watch the movie and find out!

ARRIVAL | LA PREMIERE

​As far as the cast choices, they were spot on in my opinion.  Amy Adams nailed her role as Linguistics professor Louise Banks. She really shows her acting abilities.  I believed her as this character and it was a great fit. I like Jeremy Renner from the Avengers as well as several other notable movies that he was a part of (The Hurt Locker, S.W.A.T.) and I liked him in this film. He and Amy played well opposite each other. Forest Whitaker did a notable job as well. Director Denis Villeneuve did a superb job with a such complex story.

This is definitely a great date movie and worth the evening ticket prices. Get out this weekend and see Arrival.