Crafting anything from the same cloth is always going to prove challenging. Whether it’s putting together a robust clan of super heroes or trying to envision a film about aliens coming to our planet, the general consensus is that it’s more than likely been done before. When looking at “Arrival” it has all the instincts off a Steven Spielberg spin off, but on the surface, Denis Villeneuve (who helmed “Sicario” and “Prisoners”) takes a few notches from that playbook and attempts to revitalize a genre we have seen countless times before. Is that to say he hits all the marks he wishes with precise accuracy, because that’s not the case. What is the case is that “Arrival” stands in the crossroads of utter enjoyment mixed with a profound sense of “huh?” and “wow.” You may wish to warrant time for discussion afterwards.

Unlike most thrillers of the same breed, “Arrival” is ambiguously unique in the set-up. As a group of 12 alien spaceships park themselves all across the globe, forcing a panic among the human race. Instead of us seeing them making their landing, we hear about it through a blast of news reports in the classroom of linguist, Dr. Louise Banks (Amy Adams), where her students watch in awe and disbelief, as an alarm sounds dismissing the class. Banks walks to her car in a ditzy blaze, as she glares over the skies with helicopters flying in attack formation towards the unknown beings. Villeneuve does a great job unnerving the audience’s tension here, creating a spooky feeling that at times sparks our curiosity, and worse fears.

Of course, with as good as a director Villeneuve is, even he can’t run away from the typical arch of character cliches as Colonel Weber (Forest Whitaker) comes waltzing in to Bank’s office insisting on her help in understanding the beings languages. Not too long after, she gets paired up with a theoretical physicist Ian Donnelly, played here by Jeremy Renner, to concoct some means of communication with the otherworldly creatures. It’s here where the film present’s quite possibly the coolest story narrative of the year.

I don’t feel the need to issue a spoiler, as the main crux of the story involves Banks and Donnelly communicating with the creatures (who now get dubbed “heptapods”) from behind a big glass infrastructure that glistens with white fog that prevents us from seeing their whole body. The only part of their anatomy we ever bear witness too is their bottom halves, which present the image of bony-like-tentacle fingers that create ink blotched images as a way of talking.

Villeneuve presents himself in the form of a moviegoer who has seen everything, so he strives to inherit a new experience for those, like me, that have seen it all. Even if that new experience doesn’t quite match the gravatas he may hope for, at least the effort is put forth. Which makes “Arrival” a frustratingly-happy medium. Because, on one level, I cherish the film’s message about love, hope, and lost. As the language which the heptapods speak, offer valuable insights for Dr. Banks (which to reveal would get me into spoiler territory), and the fate of the country. The entire time you are left to wonder “why are they here?” and Villeneuve is smart not to give us all the answers, and let’s Adams bring forth such an internalized performance that could very well get her in the Oscar conversation this year.

Banks and Donnelly are flawed, like most character are. They do their best not to patronize one another, and the script (penned by Eric Heisserer) gives them room to grow and develop. Even if the loopholes, sometimes, outweigh the logistics of the plot. For example, we don’t ever really get the insight into how Banks uncovers the pathology in the heptapods written language, more or less, one day she shows up understanding it almost completely. And when the message “offer weapon” comes up in conversation..it sends the government running for the hills. Although, we should be so grateful that the military clowns are merely reduced to background material, as it let’s the real story take it’s place. After all, invasion movie logic dictates you can’t have a story on this magnitude without some form of government interference.

By the time the credits roll, “Arrival” will either spark your inner sense of creativity, or leave you clueless. I fall somewhere in the middle. I do think “Arrival” is a smart sci-fi movie for grown-ups, but I think it tries to suggest more then it’s presenting. It’s hard not to draw parallels from past Spielberg movies, as he really set the medium. And Villeneuve is an extremely gifted director that has, more than once, moved me in his filmmaking capabilities. So, in that regard, I give him my respect for, at least, attempting something different, even if the overall feeling is far from out of this world. B