PRAISE: Steven Spielberg returns to the genre in which he has had multiple successes in this movie about a cybersecurity whistleblower and a meteorologist as they uncover an 80-year government conspiracy to conceal the existence of aliens. The actors in the movie including:Josh O’Connor as Daniel Kellner,Colin Firth as Noah Scanlon,,Eve Hewson as Jane Blakenship, Colman Domingo as Hugo Wakefield and Wyatt Russell as Jackson but Emily Blunt is the standout as Margaret Fairchild. She is a person who is seeking more out of life and is looking for a grander purpose and Blunt plays her to a T with each new discovery she makes. Spielberg still has that skilled eye whether its a well stacked action sequence or the simplicity of a scene with something that either provokes raw emotion or wonder. I liked when the film pointed out even though humanity and caring can be buried by grief its that same grief along with human connection that can dig it up. I liked the question of why did God create such a vast universe? Its a question i and others asked,especially when i was a part of organized religion . The team up of Spielberg and composer John Williams still stirs the soul. I liked the inclusion of recent statements from Air Force and Naval officers not being able to explain away possible UFO sightings.
PROBLEMS: There were some plot holes that are beyond obvious. The script finds a way to make things more complicated even though something is presented showing an easier way to get from point A to B. I had some frustrations with unexplained parts of the story. Even with all of the advancements in AI and CGI some of the scenes with the aforementioned looked pretty bad....oh except for a cardinal. Its funny but even with a 2 hour and 25 minute run time it felt like the movie ended abruptly. All i could think of was well this is what the audience and I have been waiting for why stop now ?!? This movie always felt like it was on the verge of being a moving and involving experience but it never gets there.
Scale of 1 to 10 a 6½