Arrival

Year: 2016

Director: Denis Villeneuve

Starring: Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Forest Whitaker, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Heptapods Abbott and Costello
Tagline: Why are they here?
Synopsis: When 12 alien spacecraft appear around the globe, linguist Louise Banks is recruited to learn the aliens' intentions.

Review

Alien movies aren't normally my thing, so Arrival wasn't on my radar until the reviews started coming in and I noticed how rave they were.  It sounded like the film was more science fiction than alien invasion movie.  So, I gave it a try.  I'm very glad I did.

Arrival isn't a movie about aliens.  It's a movie about humanity.  It's also a movie about life and death, love and loss.  It's a movie about time.  And it's a movie about linguistics.  Aliens just happen to be the catalyst to all that happens.

Throughout the film, Louise is tasked with teaching English to the two aliens in the Montana pod (one of twelve around the world).  Speaking between the two species is impossible.  But they can use writing.  The point of the endeavor is to be able to ask the aliens their purpose in coming to Earth.  Assisting in this task is theoretical physicist Ian Donnelly.  He's the one who dubs the heptapods (they have seven tentacles) Abbott and Costello.

Arrival is a slow-burn kind of film.  It's intense, but on a simmering level, not a boiling one.  It's also very cerebral.  This is thinking sci-fi, not blasting away at aliens sci-fi.  The story is told in a non-linear fashion, which can be a little confusing at times.  But then that is the point, and it works within the film.  Time does not exist for the heptapods, in their existence or in their language.  As she learns their language, Louise finds that her own perception of time changes.

While the rest of the cast do a good job in their respective roles, the film is carried by Amy Adams' portrayal of Louise.  She does an excellent job.  Louise comes across as a very real, very relatable woman.  She's brilliant and brave, but clearly swimming in deep water trying to keep her head up.

The film has a certain hopefulness about it.  But it is also very melancholy: from Louise's traumatic life, to the stark simplicity of the heptapods' ships and forms, to the muted colors of the cinematography, to the haunting soundtrack.  They all mesh perfectly to create a uniform look and feel to Arrival.  One song in particular that is used is Max Richter's "On the Nature of Daylight."  It was not written for the film, but it might as well have been because it fits so well.

As much as I enjoyed the film, Arrival is not without flaws.  Whenever writers start messing with that whole "timey wimey" stuff, things are bound to get complicated and not entirely work when looked at under a microscope.  The film does a good job overall of explaining its own internal science.

While the film seems to be trying for a hopeful melancholy, I was also left feeling a lot of cynicism regarding humanity.  The film focuses primarily on Louise, Ian, and the few military and CIA personnel working with them.  But newscasts and dialogue reveal what is going on in the rest of the world: riots, looting, fear-mongering, government crackdown, threats, and a spreading disunity and lack of trust among and within nations.  According to the movie, humanity as a whole does not react well to alien invasion.  (Given current events, it's far too easy to carry that cynicism into the real world.)

Arrival is a clean film.  No sex.  No real on screen violence.  The only swearing was one very deliberately placed f-bomb. (Seriously? We didn't need that.)  But it is intense.

Throughout Arrival I was (mostly) able to suspend my disbelief and accept all that was presented to me.  And I thoroughly enjoyed watching the film.  It kept my attention riveted.  If you want a welcome relief from the explosions-laden blockbusters or you want a slow-burn, thinking movie, Arrival is for you.

*** Spoiler Section ***

One of the things that has gnawed at me the most about Arrival is the captain who goes rogue and sets of the explosion.  I get that it was a somewhat necessary plot point to move the story forward and bring some escalation.  But it felt so trite in an otherwise fresh film.  And it was obvious.  The first pausing shot of the captain's troubled face and I knew we couldn't trust him and he was going to do something stupid.  It was a weak part for me.

Also, while the dematerializing spacecrafts were interesting, they were a bit anticlimactic.

While I enjoyed the film, it left me with a number of questions.  Did Abbott know when he came to Earth that he would die?  If China (or Russia) had fired on the spacecraft, would the missiles have had any effect?  Why did Louise never see any of her future beyond Hannah's death?  (And is Louise really going to age that well?)  Is she still going to tell Ian about Hannah's disease, even though she knows how he'll react?  Is he really going to completely abandon is family like that?  (Seriously, that left me not liking Ian very much by the end, further adding to the film's cynical feel.)

Lastly, as cynical as the film seems to be about how some of humanity deals with things, what are the socio-political ramifications of people being able to learn heptapodese and changing their perception of time?  Is the language going to turn out to be a weapon after all?

Quotable Quotes

• "How about we just talk to them before throwing math problems at them?" -- Louise to Ian
• "You know, you approach language like a mathematician."  "I'll take that as a compliment." -- Ian and Louise
• "That just happened." -- Ian, upon experiencing the gravity shift in the spacecraft

ISFS

Doctor Strange

Year: 2016

Director: Scott Derrickson

Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Tilda Swinton, Rachel McAdams, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Benedict Wong, and Mads Mikkelsen
Tagline: Open Your Mind
Synopsis: After a car accident ends his career, Doctor Stephen Strange discovers the mystic arts as a way to find healing ... and to save the world.

Review

Each time I start getting superhero ennui, Marvel throws a twist out there, like Doctor Strange.  Sure, in many ways it is a familiar origin story.  And yes, there are lots of comparisons to be made with Tony Stark/Iron Man (even down to the goatees).  But the magic and the world-warping dimensions are like nothing else we've yet seen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).  Doctor Strange is definitely worth a see.

Before going into the film, I knew nothing about Doctor Strange, the Eye of Agamoto, the Ancient One, or anything else from that part of the comic book universe.  So I went in with an unbiased mind that was ready to suspend my disbelief and be entertained.  And I was.

From the very first scene, we see this is something new.  Rather than explosions blowing up city streets, we've got sorcerer's bending, twisting, and otherwise contorting city streets and buildings.  It's like Inception on steroids.  And it is awesome.  The visuals in this film are fantastic.  In addition to warping our world, we also get glimpses of other dimensions within the multi-verse.  When the Ancient One is introducing Strange to magic it is downright trippy.  One review I saw described that part as an LSD trip on film.  Weird as it is, it's cool to look at.

One element I enjoyed in this film were the new characters.  Wong (Benedict Wong) is a no nonsense, no laughing, no taking books without permission librarian.  The Ancient One (Tilda Swinton) is an apparently ageless Celtic mystic who manages to teach Strange while throwing in a some great snarky lines.  Also enjoyable is Doctor Palmer (Rachel McAdams) who is amazingly good at taking things in stride when her former boyfriend shows up first physically and then in his "astral" form.

The villain, Kaecilius (Mads Mikkelsen), is a bit generic.  I can't think of anything new he brings to the villain table (other than weird eye makeup).  He's a worthy enough opponent for an origin story.  But it is clear Strange will find a new nemesis.

As for Strange himself, I enjoyed his character.  Before his accident, he's completely full of himself.  After his accident, he's completely desperate.  As the film progresses, you see both of those sides within him as he matures in magic.  He's also very witty and his strategy during the film's climax is clever.

My favorite character, however, isn't even a person.  The Cloak of Levitation is a relic that sort of adopts Strange.  As a magical relic, it is imbued with various powers, but it also seems to have a certain amount of sentience.  It protects Strange from others and even from himself.  It sort of reminded me of Carpet from Aladdin.

As a Marvel film, Doctor Strange makes sure to remind us it is within the MCU.  There are several prominent shots of the Avengers Tower in New York City.  There's an oblique reference to Rhodey and his injury in Captain America: Civil War.  There's the obligatory Stan Lee cameo.  And if that weren't enough, the mid-credits scene solidifies Doctor Strange's place in the world of superheroes.

Doctor Strange is yet another win in the Marvel lineup.  The visuals alone are worth the cost of a movie ticket.  And the rest of the film is enjoyable as well.  Be sure to stay through all the credits.

*** Spoiler Section ***

Whenever someone said Mordo's name, I kept thinking of "Mordor."  This made it rather confusing and hard to accept him as a good character.  But as the end of the film hints, and the end credits scene shows, that likely won't be a problem in the inevitable sequel.

Oh look, another Infinity Stone.  Have we found them all yet?  I'm seriously losing track.

Quotable Quotes

• "What's this, my mantra?"  "It's the Wi-Fi password.  We're not savages." -- Strange and Mordo
• "How's your Sanskrit?"  "I'm fluent in Google Translate." -- Wong and Strange
• "Dormammu, I've come to bargain." -- Strange
• "They put the warnings at the end." -- Strange to Kaecilius

ISFS

Hacksaw Ridge

Year: 2016

Director: Mel Gibson

Starring: Andrew Garfield, Sam Worthington, Vince Vaughn, Hugo Weaving, and Teresa Palmer
Tagline: When the order came to retreat, one man stayed.
Synopsis: During WWII, Desmond T. Doss was a conscientious objector who earned the Medal of Honor.  He never fired a single bullet.

Review

Hacksaw Ridge is rated R.  It is violent.  Brutally, viscerally, "war is hell" violent.  It is also one of the most powerful and inspiring films I've seen.  I'm glad I saw it.  If you choose not to see it, I completely respect that.  But I hope you'll continue reading to learn more about why the story -- which is a true story -- is so important.  If you do choose to see it, do so first and then come back here (i.e., this whole "review" will be a spoiler).

Pfc. Desmond T. Doss

The film begins by quoting Isaiah 40:28-31 (one of my favorites).  It is a fitting passage for the film and for the film's hero.  Private Desmond T. Doss was a Seventh Day Adventist from Lynchburg, Virginia.  Like many young men his age, he enlisted in the Army in 1942.  Unlike those other young men, Doss refused to bear arms.  Because of his religious beliefs and an incident in his youth, Doss adamantly refused to so much as touch a gun.  He just as adamantly wanted to serve his country: as a medic.  He wanted to save lives, not take them.  As such, he referred to himself not as a conscientious objector, but as a conscientious cooperator.

Whatever his faults may be, Mel Gibson knows how to tell a gripping story.  And it is clear how much respect and admiration he has for Doss.  Gibson is himself a man of religious conviction and he does not shy away from that aspect.  To do so would have been a discredit to Doss.  [A few years ago I reviewed the film Unbroken.  One of my biggest qualms with that film is that the director clearly did not understand Zamperini's religious convictions and thus shied away from religion in the film, much to the story's disservice.]

Hacksaw Ridge embraces Doss's religious convictions.  Those convictions are not belittled; they are held up in admiration.  They are not some superficial quirk; they are the core of this man.  Such portrayal of religious belief is getting more and more unheard of in Hollywood.  (And to be honest, this movie is more Australian made than American made.)  That makes this story all the more powerful and applicable.

The film may embrace Doss's convictions, but his fellow soldiers, training sergeant, and commanding officers certainly did not.  Doss is belittled, berated, beaten, denied furloughs, and threatened with being court-martialed.  Through it all, he remains true to his convictions.  He reads from his Bible.  He prays before bed.  He honors the Sabbath.  He will not hold, let a lone fire, a gun.  He will not seek discharge as "mentally unstable."  He will not retaliate against those abusing him.  And he will not back down from his desire to serve his country and fellow soldiers as a medic.  And so, without a single weapon with which to defend himself, Doss ships out to the Pacific theater of WWII.

If Doss's story ended here, it would be an inspiring story of faith and conviction.  As I've reflected on it, a quote shared by President Thomas S. Monson came to mind: "Dare to be a [Christian]; dare to stand alone.  Dare to have a purpose firm; dare to make it known" ("Dare to Stand Alone," Ensign, November 2011).  Desmond T. Doss was the embodiment of that quote.

But Doss's story didn't end with him staying true and getting through Army training.  His story goes from something inspiring to something amazing, even miraculous.  Because when a man has that much faith, courage, and unflinching loyalty to God, how could the powers of Heaven be restrained?

When I got home from seeing Hacksaw Ridge, one of the first things I did was research.  I wanted to know how close to the facts the film had stayed.  The answer is: remarkably close.  Sure, they took some dramatic license here and there.  But overall, what happens in the film is true to what happened in real life.  In fact, the film actually omits some of Doss's heroics because apparently Gibson felt audiences simply wouldn't believe them.  (If you want to know more, check out historyvshollywood.com.)

Back to the story.

Doss and his infantry division are sent to Okinawa.  The titular "Hacksaw Ridge" is the nickname given to the Maeda Escarpment, a 400-foot cliff face that the soldiers have to scale.  At the top is a battleground strewn with foxholes, caves, underground tunnels, and pretty much every danger known to war at that time.  Things do not go well for the Americans and the Japanese attack and push them backward, inflicting heavy casualties.  The American forces retreat back down the ridge.  The only ones left at the top are the dead, the wounded, the Japanese, and medic Desmond T. Doss.  (By the way, the Japanese actually targeted medics as a way to demoralize the Americans.)

For hours on end, Doss, alone, braves enemy fire to find, treat, and retrieve his wounded comrades.  He carries or drags them back to the cliff's edge where he then lowers them, one by one, on a rope to friendly (and stunned) hands below.  Then Doss goes off in search of another.  His words (his actual words) are: "Please Lord, help me get one more."  That Doss isn't killed is a miracle in and of itself.  He still refuses to take up a gun to defend himself.  Again and again he finds his comrades and lowers them to safety.  Again he goes out searching for more wounded.  He stays at it for about 12 hours, until the danger becomes too great and he has to descend himself.

When asked, Doss estimated he rescued about 50 men that night.  His commanding officers estimated the number closer to 100.  They compromised at 75 for his Medal of Honor citation.

That still isn't the end of Doss's story.  Days later, the final assault to take Hacksaw Ridge takes place and Doss is again in the thick of things as a medic.  During the battle, a hand grenade explodes near Doss, leaving him seriously injured in the legs.  In the film, Doss's fellow soldiers put him on a litter and with their gratitude and encouragement send him off to be treated.  In reality, Doss treated his own injuries and waited hours for men with a stretcher to be able to help transport him.  When he saw another soldier get injured, he had the men lower him.  Doss then proceeded to roll off the stretcher and treat the wounded soldier who was then sent off on the stretcher.  While awaiting the return of help, Doss was struck in the arm by a sniper's bullet.  It was only then that Doss finally touched a gun ... he took a rifle stock and splinted his own broken arm before crawling 300 yards to the aid station.

Again, that Doss survived is a miracle; and he knew it.  According to one website, a Japanese soldier reported having Doss in his sights, only to have his gun jam.  For days, rifle fire and explosions were all around Doss.  Yet he survived, though seriously wounded in the end.

Even as I was watching Hacksaw Ridge I was reminded of the people of Ammon in the Book of Mormon.  On one hand, Doss was reminiscent of the stripling warriors, whose minds were firm, having been taught by their mothers (Doss's mother was a religious woman).  None of them were killed, though all of them were wounded.  But Doss also reminded me of the fathers of those stripling warriors.  Like them, Doss had made a personal commitment to God that he would never take a life.  Because of the people of Ammon's commitment, the Nephites stepped up to protect and preserve them.  Likewise, Doss owed his life firstly to God, but also to his fellow soldiers who defended him from enemy attack.

In addition to saving dozens of lives, Doss's unwavering faith and convictions undoubtedly softened a few hearts along the way.  This is evidenced by two acts: both on the final day of battle.  The first was a delay to the attack.  It was a Saturday, which for Doss (a Seventh Day Adventist) was the Sabbath.  His commanding officers allowed the attack to be delayed so Doss could finish his daily devotions.  The second act came after he was injured and finally made it to medical care.  Doss realized he had lost his Bible on the battlefield -- the Bible his wife had given him before he shipped out, the Bible that had sustained him all those horrific days and nights.  He sent word back to his company.  Those men, some of whom had undoubtedly belittled and berated Doss previously, put themselves in harm's way to find the lost Bible.  They found it (tender mercy) and sent it off to their friend and comrade.

It is customary for films based on true stories to tell the rest of the story prior to the credits.  Hacksaw Ridge does that and then does one better.  It includes a few clips from interviews with both Doss's commanding officer and with Doss himself.  The interviews are from a decade or so ago.  Though brief, the clips are poignant reminders that the film just seen was about real men in real situations.  Desmond T. Doss died at his home in 2006.  He was 87 years old.

As a film, Hacksaw Ridge is simply a well made movie.  It is compelling and honest, gripping and tense.  The cinematography is well done.  The music is fitting and beautiful.  Andrew Garfield does a terrific job as Doss, portraying him as a very real, very human man.  Also outstanding is Hugo Weaving, who portrays Doss' father, who is a WWI veteran struggling with PTSD, alcoholism, and violent survivor's guilt.  Weaving does a remarkable job portraying a man you don't particularly like, but nonetheless sympathize with.

I do wish the film were less violent and grisly, then it would be able to reach a wider audience.  I suppose there is a chance of a re-edited version, or there is always Vid-Angel.  In addition to the violence, there is some language (mostly out of the sergeant's mouth).  There is also a brief shot of a man's bare backside.  The only sexiness is one scene and what you see in the trailer is all there is (and for the record they are married at that point).

Whether or not you see Hacksaw Ridge is completely up to you.  But I hope you now have a better appreciation for Desmond T. Doss, an American hero.  He has become one of my heroes.

Quotable Quotes

• "I don't know how I'm going to live with myself if I don't stand up for what I believe." -- Desmond Doss
• "I'd like to think I'm a conscientious cooperator." -- Desmond Doss
• "Please, Lord, help me get one more." -- Desmond Doss

ISFS