Arrival II

This time around Zane's Canadian step-brother--who's a wizard of a computer geek underneath that '80s looking hairdo--must pick up the pieces from where his distant, paranoid relative left off in a similar DIY investigative fashion for, that's right, humanity's sake. Except he's laid back, shows late for work and would rather run from a situation than get his hands dirty, especially about theories concerning covert extraterrestials. Yeah, those guys...and now gals.

The pacing is along the lines of a made-for-TV mystery with a few thrills to grease the wheels. Production expenses are tighter, so in turn, there are a number of scenes that are overdrawn. The acting isn't expected to be award winning but with the flow being at slower speeds than its predecessor, it makes what comes out of their mouths forced and far from giving the believable sense of actually being there in this state of looming danger. Not to mention the one-dimensional villains that are just shy of being animated over and turned into cartoon characters.

The first film, while not mind-blowing, was fresher with ideas. "The Arrival 2" retreads similar mechanics and the story meddles on with superficial attempts to personalize the experience with little quips, along with token love interests and by-now dated gizmos. Overall, this feels straightforward, anticlimactic and, aside from a few redeeming qualities to keep it afloat, a waste of a sequel.

The Arrival was, in my humble opinion, a great movie. I really really liked it - the acting, the story, the effects, the message ... a wonderful movie. So of course when I heard about the Second Arrival, I immediately got it on video. Big mistake. I never should've watched the movie. It disappointed me very much. It had *nothing* from the original movie. The acting was, to say the least, pathetic. The story was even worse. They took elements from the first movie and totally ruined them. The message was gone, too. The aliens, which were fascinating in the first movie, were nothing but boring bad guys. And claiming that Zane Zaminski had died was totally ridiculous. Everything was so unfitting that it makes you wonder if the creators of the second movie had actually watched The Arrival or just been told about it by an old friend. Everything about this movie was horrible. I don't understand why this movie was made; it has no point. I suggest you stay away from it if you liked The Arrival.

It could be that bad weather outside on a Sunday night influences my mood, makes me depressed, but I had anticipated so much of this movie, mainly because I liked the first one with Charlie Sheen. But it lacked pace, and the actors seem so much out of routine. Director Kevin Tenney wanted to keep the same atmosphere in this movie as you experience in the first, but it doesn't happen. It only slightly happens, and it gives you a feeling that you can expect some shocks, but they just never arrive . It never evolves or rises interesting scientific questions, like in The Arrival. Had you only seen more aliens and spaceships, it would have been worth seeing it just for that. It keeps you on a level to expect another movie, it's just one of those movies that attracts audiences on the basis of a brilliant predecessor. Just like Friday the 13th or the Robocop trilogy. Not even comparable to the first movie at all. A complete waste of time. If they want to make a third Arrival, please ask Charlie Sheen to return (even though his character is supposed to be dead in this one).

After watching the first one you would think that OK maybe it wont be as good but it might be almost as good?

Nope! This film should be enough to ruin the carriers of everyone involved. A teenager could have and would have written a better script. A first year cinema student would have done a better job at filming.

Don't waste your time. This film is not even in the "so bad it's good" cult of film buffs. Utter trash.

This movie pales in comparison to the first Arrival, which pleasantly surprised me the first time I saw it. This garbage, Second Arrival, was not even barely believable and should never have been made. What makes actors and actresses read such bad movie scripts and say to themselves, "Yeah! That's the kind of movie I wanna make--a real crappy one! That'll boost my resume!" Don't waste your time watching this tripe.