The Fifth Wave
Genre: YA/Sci-Fi/ Book Adaptation…
Grade: C
The aliens have arrived and attack us in a series of waves including taking the power, spreading disease, and mass destruction without ever being seen. The 5th Wave based on the book by Rick Yancey (that I very much enjoyed) tells the story of Cassie, a teenage survivor desperately trying to reunite with her brother Sam. As well as the children with Sam co-opted by the military to fight the invaders for the next wave.
Like I said I really enjoyed the book but the movie was… average. It starts out pretty well in a lot of ways. The CGI isn’t bad. The alien attacks are horrible because they leave the humans with absolutely no ability to fight back. Chloe Moretz does a good job as Cassie and Liev Schreiber is really good as Vosch, the head military man. There were a couple of good emotional moments thrown in as well like when she can’t catch up to Sam as he’s taken away.
I also thought the movie did a fairly good job of not telegraphing the twists- spoilers for which I won’t give away.
It’s really the second part of the movie where it fell apart for me. I liked Evan in the books but it seemed like all the meat from his relationship with Cassie (and his character) was gone. There was very little there from the time he appeared and it felt boring. I hate to say it to but Alex Roe (Evan) was not that good. Maybe it wasn’t him because they stripped a lot from Ben (Cassie’s former crush and current military recruit) as well but I thought that actor still did a good job.
Seriously, there’s a scene where she watches Evan bathing in a river and it just felt odd because there was nothing behind that relationship to me. It didn’t do much to help Cassie’s characterization either.
The second big thing was that the revelations in the movie happen so fast that I felt like they fell flat. I don’t want to get into spoilers but it just didn’t seem to have the weight that it needed. I was like, “Um, okay?”
Lastly, and this could be nitpicking, I don’t remember if all the stuff on the military base was as unbelievable in the book as it was in the movie. It all felt way, way to easy for the heroes. I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say that at one point Cassie is rushing through a crowd, wearing a completely different uniform and making a scene while in wide shots you can see guards on the outside of the crowd and no one seems to see her or stop her.
I gave the movie bonus points for a scene where Cassie is scavenging and grabs some tampons because hey, even in an alien invasion you still need the necessities. But then again a friend pointed out how she always seemed to have killer hair products and seriously, even after she had been injured her hair was still on point. So maybe that’s a wash.
Recommend: Wait to Rent.