The Arrival (1996)

Director David Twohy’s "The Arrival" is a sort of middle tier piece of science fiction. The overall story (aliens disguised as humans intent on taking over the earth) is hardly new, in fact it’s just about the basis for damn near every science fiction tale involving extraterrestrial beings. Here the malevolent E.T’s are setting up secret bases in Mexico, emitting high levels of greenhouse gases to up the Earth’s temperature. These guy’s like it hot, and it’s up to Charlie Sheen as a paranoid scientist type to stop the alien invasion. Hmm, "it’s up to Charlie Sheen to stop the alien invasion"...I think we’re screwed, don’t you? Actually, Sheen does an admirable job with his character, as he stumbles into deeper and deeper levels of the alien conspiracy, as he’s never really sure where reality/unreality are colliding. Sheen’s performance is actually the saving grace of the film; the viewer really gets to like the guy leaving you curious as to what will happen to him next. Some parts of the film do become a bit tedious (the whole alien ship sequence goes nowhere), but there’s enough twists and turns to keep your interest if you’re really bored. The aliens themselves are sort of interesting, they have a rather lame humanoid shape to them, but they walk really funky, sort of like if your legs were put on backwards. Next time you’re in a public place with some friends, imitate the alien walk and see if they still hang around you afterwards. It’ll be good for a laugh, trust me. In summary though, "The Arrival" is sort of like something you’ll see on the Sci-Fi channel at two in the afternoon. It’s really just an average piece of sci-fi, save for a nice turn from Sheen and some funky walking aliens. Then again, that’s not saying too much, now is it?