![]() ![]() The whole third act basically centers on a bootstrap paradox, one that the novella handles very differently. The day is saved with a paradoxical time loop that "Doctor Who" fans are deeply familiar with: Louise knows how to call Shang and tell him the exact words to change his mind, but only because Shang will recount the event to her years later. "Arrival," meanwhile, bases most of its final act around the actions of General Shang (Tzi Ma), the Chinese military leader who nearly causes World War III before our protagonist Louise (Amy Adams) uses her new time travel powers to change his mind. There aren't many details in the novella telling us how the other countries in the world are dealing with the aliens, but it seems like everyone's working together drama-free. Aliens still visit Earth and the main character is still a linguist trying to communicate with them, but there's not much sense that these aliens might be a threat or that the world might actually be in danger. ![]() The story's around 50 pages long, and it doesn't seem particularly interested in creating any sort of dramatic, ticking-clock scenario. The movie is based on Ted Chiang's novella "Story of Your Life," first published in 1998. ![]()
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