Clip It: Each day, Jon Davis looks at the world of trailers, featurettes and clips and puts it all in perspective.
If you've ever been a political science major, you've probably heard the theory that global politics is always in a natural state of anarchy and, in its most normative state, we would all be at war. I was a film major, but I swear I read that somewhere. Point is, diplomacy is essential to keep the globe safe. So when aliens come to earth in a giant oval thingee, what is the FIRST thing you need? Amy Adams AKA Dr. Louise Banks, the world's best linguist. Although if this kind of thing happens to us in real life I say we stick to this plan and send actor Amy Adams; she's a national treasure.
The Arrival teaser gave us a sense of the world, but the Arrival trailer tells us more of the story. When we last left them, Amy Adams and her crew were about to meet the aliens and see what they look like. And here's the big reveal:
Hide your cats! Just kidding, We don't get a great look at the aliens, even in this fuller trailer. We see a starfish looking thing, that suctions itself against what looks like a glass surface. It also emits an inky substance like an octopus that forms hieroglyphic messages. It's Amy Adams' job to figure out what they're saying or the human race is in trouble.
I like that the army calls the UFO, “the show,” which is what minor league baseball players call the major leagues. Unfortunately, these aliens don't want to play baseball. Or maybe they do. In movies, the alien message is usually something profound, and I don't know how realistic that is.
When my son was an even smaller baby, he babbled all the time, and I really wanted to know what he was saying. Once he began to talk, I realized he was just pointing things out like “trucks!” He wasn't Socrates or anything. The aliens don't know anything about earth, so I can see these aliens just being full of nonsense: “Apricots on the moon! Milkshake lampshades under the beach!” It's unlikely these aliens have anything to say that would satisfy our expectations. What if their message is “Scientology is right!” How controversial would that be?
I'm excited to get some answers, so let's all of us go see this movie. Pick a time and I'll see if I can join you.