Arrival : Campea is right… this is one boring ass film

John Campea from Collider didn't like this movie at all and I can't believe his Collider cohorts didn't back him up. It is SO poorly paced and almost complete drivel. Can't say it's drivel start to finish because it's intriguing to start but the second and third acts are bloated and constipated.

Anyone that thinks this material is "intelligent" must be one of those people that aren't very bright but wants to seem smart by pretending to like a pretentious movie.

Well according to your reviews you hate everything so I'll take this as a grain of salt.

My name is Darth Jar Jar. Master of the Drunken Force technique. All of you will be my slaves.

He could just hate everything, but I have to agree with him on this. The pacing was terrible. Without spoiling, it's a mystery that grabs your attention and intrigue about the aliens right from the beginning.

Then the still shots, close ups, slow mo, and scenes of characters doing trivial things like Claire getting out of bed or staring at the sky start to throw the movie off pace.

I wouldn't use "boring" to describe this movie, it was moreunsatisfying.

That's how I initially felt about Enemy (another D Villeneuve film). The pacing was very slow and it was quite a tedious watch.

But after the movie was over I reflected back to all of the scenes and it turned out every single moment served a greater purpose.

Those expecting an action movie should look elsewhere. Independence Day or Dr Strange (which I hear is terrific) might be a better fit for you.

The same John Campea who jizzes himself over every formulaic comic book film?

Yeah, means nothing to me

Perfect reply

even equiped with a shovel and you couldn't dig this

Everyone is calling it pretentious for a reason.

I agree, and I hope that more people who can see through the glossy musical feels to see how empty and pointless this film actually is will soon emerge. The phone call scene is beyond ridiculous - it plays like some kind of satirical spoof. The rationale for the aliens presence and the language learning is weak as hell. There is literally no point to any of it.

But is it "empty and pointless"?

We have some inherent assumption that any alien race that comes to visit is us going to already be able to communicate with us. Well, actually, they can communicate with us. The problem is that we won't know how to communicate with them. This film is an exploration of what it may look like to learn how the basics of finding "shared language" works. May not have been a great film for you, but it was great for quite a many other people.

---

This film is an exploration of what it may look like to learn how the basics of finding "shared language" works.

---

I would say that's one small element of it - and yes an interesting element - but really, I wouldn't personally agree that its what the film is really trying to "deliver". It kind of proves my point that even the fans don't really appreciate what the film is trying to suggest about free-will and time's arrow.

---

May not have been a great film for you, but it was great for quite a many other people.

---

I know, and appreciate that, and haven't suggested otherwise.

I definitely appreciate the suggestions about free will and the slippery nature of time. I guess that's not a point I'm quick to bring up, because the communication struggle seems more poignant right now. Even though humans have shared sounds and symbols, it can still be very difficult for two people to grasp what each other is trying to say. Louise had an easier time communicating with the Heptapods than she did half the people in charge down there. We've got to get through that hurdle before we can wax on about timelines; which, btw, would be soooooooo much more fun to talk about.

The communication/language thing is interesting and relevant for sure, but I don't feel the film really does justice to that as an idea, in terms of the issues/consequences/tension that could arise from the world relying on that precarious situation. It sort of starts to go there, then uses Jeremy Renner's little summary narration to brush it aside to make room for its main core story.

Its cool that you connected with that side of the film though, I guess its a testament to the film that it presents a few ideas that people prioritise differently.

Indeed! Of course, would love a larger exploration into these ideas, but we must always add the drama of a control structure too stupid and willfully ignorant to actually trust the experts to be experts. Notice how both Adams' and Renner's characters chuck their HAZMATs, but the soldiers continue to wear them during every subsequent visit?

Part of the work I do is to help people explore aspects of themselves in finer detail. Intuition & insight into one's self and circumstances. Most of my conversations end up being way over people's heads. So, I tend to bump into the innate resistance born from cognitive dissonance. The challenge is to look for and find the language we have that is shared. It's really no different than in the movie. Well the difference is that we have shared words/sounds, but each person has a variance in how they understand those words/sounds, which tends to be slightly different from the person right next to them. Based upon what we say alone, no one is every really sure of what another is trying to convey with their words. Shared Language (shared reality) is a perpetual challenge.

Slow paced is one thing but dumb as dirt is another. This movie's only purpose is to make dumb people feel smart by backing an "artsy" alien film.

John Campea is a stupid fck and so are you and you haven't seen it yet so STFU.

i don't mind boring film as long as it has substance.

I'm going to agree with you. This movie has a lot of ideas but seems pretty much bust as far as providing answers or turning those ideas into compelling questions. And it's contrived as all hell too. I can't believe people are so hyped on the ending of this thing. It's so silly and makes zero sense.

Trying to create a funny, engaging YouTube channel. If you guys check it out, hope you enjoy what you see. Thanks in advance.

Review of the film here-

I'd rather watch moss grow than sit through this movie.

As noted, Campea did like Man of Steel so take it for what it's worth.

No idea who Campea is I never read critic reviews on anything. I like forming my own opinion on a movie.


This was one boring ass film! buy that Campea dude a beer he nailed it. There doesn't need to be any more reviews on it, he summed it up perfectly.

Yeah, but he thinks Man of Steel is a masterpiece, so.

Campea lool the man who likes predictable drivel writing in comic book movies doesn't like this? Oh WOW THEN THIS MUST BE AWFUL. Yeah?

One day in the year of the fox came a time remembered well

Only hipsters will say that this is brilliant movie

Agreed. This movie tries too hard. Too much camera wankery, overacting, and just a *beep* story. It felt really awkward, drawn out, and boring. The plot is better suited to a 30 min show.

Villeneuve is an untalented nobody, and I'm angry that that he is going to be directing Bladerunner 2049.

Yep the idea was good but starting 2nd visit to the aliens it started to be boring.
Another thing: she sees her (future) daughter dying most probably of cancer given she was bold, well I am not an oncologist but if they know before time which type of cancer she will have and where exactly in her body, can't they get rid of it as long as it's in stage 1??

they said rare disease in future so you never know what it is

It's not 100% clear, but when Louise says "rare disease", she might have been referring to her ability to see the future. I think it's certainly something that Ian could be angry about. (you married me because the voices in your head told you to? or, You knew our daughter would suffer and die, and you didn't say anything?)

Plus, why would you have a child, if you know that she will suffer badly and ultimately die?

Yep they wanted to do a movie a la 6th sense but the daughter dying + the marriage that won't last was a bad choice.
About the ''rare'' sickness perhaps she didn't want to say the word ''cancer'' to her daughter, I know many people who hide the truth about this sickness to their loved ones so they are not like ''I am gonna die in a few weeks''.
I know someone in my family who had a rare cancer but instead of telling him that they just gave him the technical word or else he would get a depression. And yes he is not an internet user to search about it :)

everyone has different experience, it has 94% on RT which means 6% hated it and campea agrees with 6% and many of you too but it doesn't mean he's correct and everyone else is wrong, there is no scientifically verified process to measure quality of a movie, no movie in history has been liked by everyone no matter how good it is and there never will be one in future.
For me it's the best movie of the year and it's perfectly fine if you hated it i didn't like la la land but many did, it's all good

it is the worst movie of the year, and people say it is ok, because of critics, like critics on rotten tomatoes. so, if critics say that someone's crap smells nice and that crap is an art, people will say it is true and that crap is art.

again different people different opinions, it's best movie of the year for me and it's not going to change if anybody says otherwise and it's worst movie for you and it's not going to change if anybody says otherwise, so stop being a child and accept that not everybody is going to have same opinion as you

it is the worst movie of the year