Arrival (2016) is definitely one of the best sci-fi movies I've ever watched. The photography, acting, and writing are superb. Every little detail was taken care of.
BUT, there's one scene (and the outcome of it) which really bothers me -- the "c4 scene". I'd be glad to receive a proper explanation because unfortunately it just makes no sense.
My main questions regarding the scene:
- Colonel Weber (Forest Whitaker) is in charge of the temporary "base" and the whole military operation. He is the one who reports to the higher ranked generals and he is in charge of everything that goes on there. How come he didn't knew that explosive charges were planted on the ship? The explosion, which was set to a specific time by a timer, apparently surprised him. And, if he was actually the one in charge of this -- how come he didn't consult with the two scientists which actually work on daily basis with the aliens and are literally on a verge of a huge discovery?
- Who were the people who planted the charge? Who gave them this command? How come they let the scientist go into the ship, if there was an explosive charge there, set to explode in 10 minutes? All they said was something like - "no, you can't go there". This makes no sense.
- Did the alien intentionally saved the two scientists by pushing them away? The obviously understood that something's wrong, because they started knocking on the "glass". Why did they actually wait for the explosion, if they about the charge?
- How come no one made a big deal (or stop the explosion for instance) of the fact that Louise (Amy Adams) actually managed to draw, by hand, the aliens' symbols and made a huge progress (on the scientific and personal/psychological level) by doing that?
- When Louise (Amy Adams) woke up, after this event -- nobody seems to really take the event seriously and investigate who have committed this act. This absolutely makes no sense -- that's probably the dumbest possible thing to do in their situation. They don't know which technology those aliens possess and what would be the reaction; they are in a middle of a study, regarding the reason of the aliens' arrival and their goals. (the reaction could be a beginning of a war with an unexplored species of aliens and obviously, the reaction would end the ongoing super import research which goes on around the world). The bottom line: how come no one made a big deal of this awfully stupid, irrational and unreasonable act.
- Whoever those people were, if they decided to start a war with a superior alien species -- why did they plant such a small amount of explosives, which definitely couldn't do anything to the ship (except annoying the aliens) instead of properly preparing for this attack? (like the Chinese did, for example). All they did was one explosion and a couple of guys with M-16 rifles.. that's just ridiculous.
I'd be really glad if someone could clarify this for me.