A new Steven Spielberg movie is always an event and there has been much anticipation of this one as it revisits the subject of alien lifeforms. Emily Blunt and Josh O’Connor star as a meteorologist, Margaret Fairchild and a cybersecurity expert, Daniel Kellner, as they uncover a global alien presence. That is as much of the plot as I will give away. Not only because I do not want to give away spoilers, but because there is an awful lot of it!
Spielberg and writer David Koepp drop us right into the middle of the story, which was disconcerting to start with but they trust the viewers to piece things together. The first half is an excellent chase movie, ending in a stunning action set piece involving a car and a train. Spielberg may be nearing his 80th birthday but he can still deliver scenes like that. A little momentum is lost after that, as the back stories of Daniel and Margaret are revealed. There is one long scene involving them as kids that could have been heavily trimmed and aliens manifesting as animals may have sounded good on paper, but it results in some horrible CGI. But things ramp up again, culminating in an effective last 20 minutes.
The cast are all great. Blunt has never been better, bringing a chaotic energy to her character and providing a number of laughs. Daniel is not as interesting but O’Connor continues to show his impressive range. Colin Firth and Colmon Domingo are at the top of their game and Eve Hewson is magnetic as Daniel’s girlfriend.
On the whole, this is very enjoyable, Spielberg’s best since The Post and a huge improvement on when he last dabbled with aliens in War of the Worlds. However, his view of the decent goodness of the human race and empathy that we feel for those who are different from us feels both naïve and out of date.
Rating: 8 out of 10