Steven Spielberg directs Disclosure Day in Kansas City.

The summer blockbuster season has kicked off with the theatrical release of Disclosure Day, a film that marks director Steven Spielberg's return to his "aliens are among us" sci-fi roots. Verdict: there's not much fresh or original here as movies about aliens go, but it's a fast-paced film with a luminous performance by Emily Blunt that won't fail to entertain.

The first half of the film is essentially a political thriller, with shades of 1974's The Parallax View and similar films, as global tensions have the world teetering on the brink of World War III. A cybersecurity specialist named Daniel, played by Josh O'Connor, has stolen a piece of alien technology and highly classified files from his employer, Wardex Corporation, a top-secret extension of the US government led by Noah Scanlon, played by Colin Firth. Scanlon flushes out Daniel by holding his girlfriend Jane, played by Eve Hewson, hostage. At the tradeoff, Daniel double-crosses them and escapes with Jane, and the two go on the run as Scanlon declares Daniel a traitor.

Meanwhile, Kansas City TV meteorologist Margaret, played by Emily Blunt, is having breakfast with her boyfriend Jackson, played by Wyatt Russell, when a cardinal flies through the window and locks eyes with her before flying away. Margaret resumes her conversation with Jackson, only in Russian—a language she has never learned. On the way to work, she finds she can read the thoughts and feeling of other people, and converse in their native languages. And then—in a pivotal moment featured in all the trailers—Margaret starts her live weather report, only to lapse into an alien language on air. That moment immediately goes viral.

This brings her to Scanlon's attention, as well as that of Scanlon's Wardex colleague Hugo Wakefield, played by Colman Domingo. Hugo is the one pulling the strings behind the scenes to arrange for Daniel's theft of the top secret materials. His goal: reveal their contents—detailing human-alien encounters over the last 80 years—to the world. Scanlon is equally intent on stopping the truth from ever getting out, and it becomes a high-stakes race against time as Daniel and Margaret try to evade his minions and find each other.

The final 30 minutes or so of the film see a pronounced vibe shift toward the mystical as the plot threads converge. In Spielberg's capable hands, it works, although some have criticized the CGI, particularly for the animals. Given what those animals turn out to represent, it was the right decision to make them look otherworldly, as if they were stepping out of a fairy tale into our darker, grittier world. Spielberg has assembled an excellent cast, but it's Blunt who anchors the film. Her performance has been garnering critical raves and the kudos are well-deserved.

Blunt is an accomplished and versatile actress and she brings all that experience to bear to portray Margaret, as the character discovers the full range of her abilities—and accesses some long-dormant childhood memories in the process. Blunt even used her vocal training as an actor to produce the alien language guttural clicks and pops in a single four-minute take, refusing to let the filmmakers rely on AI-based post-processing to do so. This is a nearly two-and-a-half-hour film but Spielberg's expert pacing keeps it from feeling overlong. With a few notable exceptions, the plot mostly makes sense and it all works best when the film is in full thriller mode.

But the underlying themes and ideas aren't particularly deep, and the big final reveal is decidedly underwhelming. There is nothing here we haven't seen a million times before; we've seen it from Spielberg himself, in fact. Honestly, it's not clear why Spielberg wanted to make another alien movie when he already has a classic like E.T. and Close Encounters of the Third Kind under his belt. Perhaps he wanted to explore the idea of alien presence in a more modern context, with the advent of social media and the 24-hour news cycle. Whatever the reason, Disclosure Day is an entertaining film that will keep you on the edge of your seat, even if it doesn't particularly challenge your mind or leave a lasting impression.

Spielberg's return to sci-fi is a welcome one, and his direction is as masterful as ever. He knows how to craft a scene, how to build tension, and how to get the best out of his actors. The film's cinematography is also noteworthy, with a blend of sweeping cityscapes and intimate close-ups that draw the viewer into the world of the film. The special effects are, for the most part, seamless, and the alien language is a fascinating creation that adds to the film's sense of wonder.

In the end, Disclosure Day is a fun, if not particularly substantial, summer blockbuster. It's a film that will appeal to fans of sci-fi and action movies, and it's a great showcase for Emily Blunt's talents. While it may not be Spielberg's most memorable or impactful film, it's still a worthwhile watch, and a great way to kick off the summer movie season. With its breakneck pace and thrilling action sequences, Disclosure Day is sure to keep you entertained, even if it doesn't particularly challenge your mind or leave a lasting impression.