There may be a spoiler lurking around here somewhere.<br /><br />"Signs" was supposed to be substance without the sci-fi. (Although the substance really wasn't that substantial, though I did like that film.) "The Arrival" is all sci-fi without the substance. It would be wonderful to find a happy medium, but we rarely do.<br /><br />"The Arrival" is quite entertaining, despite the miscastrophe of Charlie Sheen. At one point, when his character was soberly praising the merits of abstinence, I nearly fell out of my chair laughing. Well, at least his bod was nice enough to look at, although his hairdo was a bit scary -- it looked like it would hurt if you touched it, and I was kind of hoping the aliens would shave some crop circles in it -- and I wasn't too thrilled about the goatee. Poor Charlie uses the same face for every emotion: look angry, okay, eyes wide and intense. Look scared, okay, eyes wide and intense. INTENSE! I thought his eyes were going to pop out of his head.<br /><br />Well, because it was fairly necessary for the plot of the movie, the aliens had to have the usual human shape with slight variations, such as the -- oooo -- BACKWARD knees. (Hey, I can do that too, by the way!) But then again, it was NOT really necessary for the plot, as we got to see in "Galaxy Quest." The more I read books about science and evolution, the less thrilled I am with the lack of imagination when it comes to most aliens, who look like us only with different colors of skin, and a few strange protuberances.<br /><br />This movie does have a few very imaginative elements but they are surrounded by lots more unoriginal sci-fi ideas and tricks so obviously contrived to startle the audience, or develop pseudo-suspense, such as the ol' scorpions in the bedroom trick.<br /><br />But I do wish that some of these directors would get together and give us a movie that DOES have scary, suspenseful, sci-fi effects and elements, AND has some soul-searching substance (but not so much that it overshadows the main event, which is: holy sh**, we're being attacked/visited by ALIENS!!!!!) We have some great alien films. "Galaxy Quest" and the "MIB"s are great entertainment, but those are comedies, so wouldn't satisfy someone hoping for a good scare. "Starman," "E.T." and "Close Encounters" are top-notch, although the aliens in "Close Encounters" were rather disappointing at the end (a bunch of bald little people surrounding a tall bald anorexic - a benevolent Ann Coulter without the hair). Like "Signs," those films went more for substance. What I would like is a SCARY movie about aliens, such as "The Arrival" attempts to be, but without using so many of the worn-out tricks of the trade.<br /><br />I didn't really mind "The Arrival," but I doubt I'll ever feel the need to rent the sequel.