MFT: David Twohy - The Arrival (1996)

"The Arrival" is 1996 science-fiction conspiracy thriller written and directed by David Twohy and starring Charlie Sheen. The film is about low-level radio astronomer Zane Zaminsky who accidentally gets a recording of signal that is probably an evidence of existence of alien life. But instead of getting praised for his discovery - obviously nobody believes him and soon he's out of job due to "spurting nonsense". But that doesn't stop, he tries hard to prove his point while alienating everybody. Curiously, everyone he tries cooperate with wind up dead. Finally it turns out that there is in fact a conspiracy. Alien are already invading Earth and recent climate changes are due to alien atmosphere adapting technology. Zane collects the evidence but gets busted by the aliens. After a confrontation he narrowly escapes and uncovers the conspiracy. But tomorrow never knows.

Unlike its high-minded 2016 namesake - "The Arrival" is balls to the wall B-movie. It knows what it is and doesn't try to bite more than it can chew. Lack of topsy-turvy jangle-twang results in a surprisingly solid picture. It is a neat riff on 50-s science fiction flicks with its broad strokes narrative and steady, unhurried pace. But it also adds some elaborate ambiguous characterizations and a couple of nifty ideas along the way. "The Arrival" manages to avoid speculation on environmentalist topic and is not trying to make a grand statement. "The Arrival" just wants to tell a story. You got to respect its unpretentious nature.

What makes "The Arrival" a good film is focus. It doesn't mess around. Everything in its right place. Every element of this film is designed to build-up and progress the story. Sure - it is told in broad strokes but that doesn't mean it is underdeveloped. There is a lot going on under the surface of the film and we only get to see some glimpses. Sure it is reasoned by budget first and foremost - but we don't really need to see the full picture - viewer gets just right amount of information so that his imagination will be able to fill the gaps better than any SFX. And that is always a good thing. 

The way aliens are depicted is functional and extremely effective. They're mostly disguised as humans acting like a spiteful bureaucratic squares in suits. Their presence is ominous. Their actual appearance is intentionally cliched but it is afterthought - long-limbed, kneecaps backwards, bronze-skinned humanoids - they look the part, there is no need in elaborate creature design. We only get see a few bits of alien technology. Our first real encounter with it is when aliens destroy equipment in Zane's apartment. The device they use is a sphere that levitates and rotates when activated and sweeps everything inside of itself as a portable black hole of sorts. This establishes aliens as the force to be reckoned with. They're no jokes. Next we get to see their terraforming plant. We get to see their disguise device and the main plant. While not much details are revealed - we understand that aliens are operating for a long time - exposing huge amounts greenhouse gas to the atmosphere.    

The story of "The Arrival" is built around alien invasion tropes (and directly inspired by "Quatermass II") but it doesn't pretend that it is one of a kind. It acknowledges and plays with audience's knowledge of genre tropes. Just like "Highlander" it follows the tropes but gives every each of them a unique spin. It is one of the few alien invasion films where you can actually get some sort of alien point of view on the whole thing. From their perspective - they work for preservation and expansion of their kind. It might be at a cost of existence of another species - but benefit of your kind is the priority. Because "Survival of the fittest" and so on. Aliens don't seem to be arranging a genocide on their own - they simply use the situation and speed up already existing tendencies. Which is rather sly comment on infinitely careless environmental politics of today and yesterday. 

The way David Twohy writes the characters is very interesting. He uses archetypes as the foundation for the characters but applies Theseus ship method to them. Every element of the character is twisted and defamiliarized - it is this or that archetype but not exactly. It makes characters believable, engaging and ultimately relatable. It is best illustrated by the protagonist of "The Arrival" - Zane Zaminsky. In the beginning - he is dedicated even zealous worker. He wants to make difference. He tries his best for the benefit of the common cause but he is also utterly annoyed by "run of the mill" attitude of his superiors. He might be a smart guy, but his attitude prevents him from professional growth. Too much ego stuff. He thinks his superiors are holding him back. He disrespects them for that. But he is his own problem - he can't play by the rules, he imagines himself as a dashing frontiersman. That makes him unreliable in the eyes of authorities who appreciate more refined and laidback approach. And that seems to be the main reason why his sudden discovery is dismissed (not exactly but initially it seems to be the case). How many times before he made much ado about nothing? Why should they believe him after all?

Zane Zaminsky's character works because he is by no means a hero. Charlie Sheen plays asteaming mess of a character. He is sloppy, milquetoast ego-maniac maladaptive daydreaming chum who wants to make a bang but ends up doing a whimper time after time while smelling like a Limburger. He is plausible. He is way out of his league but he tries to reach anyway even though the credentials are not there. He is driven by desire to know what is going on but he's not good enough to dig that deep but he tries anyway. He survives whole ordeal not because he's tough enough or outsmarts his adversaries but just because aliens underestimate him. And that is something that might happen. He also looks kinda like Gordon Freeman from "Half-Life" which makes "The Arrival" retroactive undercover far-fetched reverse-adaptation (Belisario Maxim, ok?).

The other main players are also well-rounded. Zane's one-time companion - Ilana Green (played by mighty Lindsay Crouse) is a better fit for heroic protagonist. She's actually a competent scientist who tries to unravel the truth step by step. We first see her at the very beginning of the film as she finds a field of poppies in the midst of Arctic snow desert (powerful image on its own merits). She poses a greater threat to the conspiracy because she's got the credibility and her exposé will make a significant splash. That is why she is dispatched once she got too far.

The antagonist - Phil Gordian (played by Ron Silver) is a curious example of onion villain. At first he is depicted as "by the book" reasonable superior to Zaminsky. He doesn't want to get into the trouble because of claims of unreliable employee - he just wants to sit at his desk until retirement. He then turns out to be backstabbing bastard who shuts off "suspicious element" for his own safety and comfort. And then "wham bang" - he's a bad guy supreme who is behind the whole thing. He despises this puny oddball who makes some noise and exposes himself out of apparent arrogance. What this little man can do to him? He shortsightedly orchestrates the whole affair because he is bored with the current proceedings and wants to entertain himself by smashing hapless bloke who thought he can make a splash. That backfires badly.

"The Arrival" is a curious case of B-movie that doesn't mess around and brings the thrills. It is a nice riff on alien invasion / first contact sci-fi films that actually manages to bring something new to the table. It is cliched but is uses cliches to make something different. And that is nice.