L'arrivo di Wang

THE ARRIVAL OF WANG is a little-known, low-budget Italian sci-fi movie about a female translator, fluent in Mandarin, who finds herself undertaking the most unusual job of her career when contacted by a mysterious government branch. It starts off promisingly, provoking a sense of mystery and foreboding with its 'dark room' premise, but sadly it gets more and more ridiculous as the story progresses.

The main problem I had with the production is its reliance on CGI effects which look fairly ridiculous. A key twist early on had me bursting into laughter rather than being frightened as the female lead was. This transforms it into nothing more than an extended episode of THE OUTER LIMITS (circa 1990s), one which feels dragged out in places. Little happens, and when it's all over you wonder how they managed to fill the running time out.

There are some decent scenes and elements here, including a torture sequence or two which prove to be fairly hard-hitting, but I did find the story falling apart as the finishing line approached. The twist ending is anything but surprising, while the acting is little to write home about. It is a shame, because I believe with tighter realism and more focus on the human aspects of the tale this could have been great rather than average.

1 May 2016. This sci fi psychological thriller is an elongated version of a plot found in the more recent television episode of "The Outer Limits." While the European movie version script has its merits, especially in the beginning scenes with a rather nice use of blurred focus and more of a somewhat humanizing element of a number of primary characters there isn't much more this movie has to offer. The American dubbed version is competent in its translation it seems, the psychological intensity besides a somewhat stereotypical interrogator and the interaction between the female translator, interrogator, and stranger is fascinating. The psychological threat is actually on par with the Cuban Missile Crisis in a number of ways.

The Italian script seems to use a twist in the typical American sci fi themes as well as copying "Outer Limits" tendency to surprise its own American roots as well and to decent effect. The problem with this movie is that there isn't really anything new that hasn't been done before nor done with more budgetary quality considerations. The movie is intact with a nice beginning, middle, and end, though its seems rather sharp in its approach. Other movies that have more of an intensity and compelling cinematic experience would be Planet of the Vampires (1965), The Thing (1982), Alien: Resurrection (1997), Sphere (1998), K-Pax (2001), Splice (2010), Devil (2010), Ender's Game (2013), and Oblivion (2013).

It would be easy to be jaded about a film like this as we've all become so used to big-budget special effects, especially in fantascienza films. And, yes, it does meander a bit in the beginning before it starts getting interesting. But the performances of the main characters are spectacular, and there's a neat twist at the end of the movie that's worth waiting for, with some creative filming that may be low-budget but it stands out as fun and effective regardless.

The version I watched was in Italian with no English subtitles, but I only have a smattering of Italian at my disposal, and I can say you don't need to be fluent in the language to understand what's happening. Like most good science fiction and fantasy, it's as much about human nature as anything else. I think it's worth the 80- minute investment for fans of the genre. It also proves that you don't need a billion dollars to make a decent science fiction film; it's not all about the bling.

Therefor I am not going to spoil the story for you. I'm not even going to touch the subject of genre (you can read that here on IMDb if you really want to though). But I will tell you this: If you are an avid fan of cinema and specifically of Korean cinema, than you might remember a movie that had a similar theme, but handled the whole thing better. That is not to say that this is a bad movie. Quite the opposite, this is quite good and has its moments.

The actors are good, the effects are good too (for a low budget movie). The story is kinda predictable, the dialogue is good too (especially the last sentence that our female protagonist hears is terrific). The mentioned sentence was something the filmmakers had to fight for (producers didn't seem to like it, but believe me, it worked with the Frightfest audience!).

Wannnnnnnngggggggg!!! For a budget film which probably cost no more than the price of a latte to make,weve got to give it a little slack.First off it is an engrossing watch,yes the CGI is below standard (price of a latte remember)yes its confined to a single holding room for most of the time,but hell!! it IS thought provoking,it is clever and I must say I couldn't wait to find out what was the end scenario.No its not a mega blockbuster where film fans flock only to be let down by all the hype,its a film which will disappear into the corridors of time ,hardly seen by anyone and that is the sad truth.I gave it a chance,I watched,I enjoyed.Open your mind and let it in,there a far,far worse movie experiences out there than The Arrival of Wang! Weve all seen them.Yes its got flaws,yes its pretty hard watching at times,but stick with it, there are also some great moments as well.It is a great film as it does keep you guessing,the trick is to just remember its a film and my mind was entertained by a budget film,thats why I marked it a solid 8!The end line should be up there with the classic final film quotes!! Its a masterpiece. The question is:Does Wang come in peace? Or does he come to leave earth in pieces? You'll have to watch yourself....................