Why I think critics tend to overpraise mediocre, but ambitious, films

Yesterday I saw Arrival. It's gotten great reviews (a 94% on Rotten Tomatoes). My Facebook feed has been abuzz with praise for it. And it's based on a story by one of my favorite writers, Ted Chiang. And the film is the kind of thing I might like very much: a linguist rushes to communicate with a newly-arrived alien race. I really, really wanted to like…