The 5th Wave - movie review

The 5th Wave

Plot: Four waves of increasingly deadly alien attacks have left most

of Earth decimated. Cassie is on the run, desperately trying to save her younger brother.
Cast: Chloë Grace Moretz, Nick Robinson, Ron Livingston
Director: J Blakeson
Rating: 15
Release Date: Friday 22nd January 2016

I'm done. I'm just done with the whole "young adult" genre. It's become a Hollywood fan favourite because they'll know it will make money. The genre used to be an entertaining prospect with successful entries into this style of film such as Harry Potter and The Hunger Games. However, recently the quality of these movies have been declining with current examples being the new entries into the Divergent and Maze Runner franchises. The 5th Wave earns its place among the newest additions to this garbage pile. The unoriginal story of a young protagonist who is having to mature quickly and adapt to the new world whilst at the same time, defying the adult driven authoritative company and also being trapped in the midst of a love triangle is present here. Sound like something you've heard before? That's because it's exactly like EVERY dystopian young adult film ever.



The cast, for the most part felt uninspired and bored. One of the few positives that I can give this film are the two performances of Nick Robinson as Ben Parish/Zombie and Maika Monroe as Ringer. Both of these characters felt fully developed and they had an interesting arc that I was invested in. They seemed to be having fun, especially Monroe, and this was apparent during one of the very few action scenes. Moretz was a slight disappointment. I thought that her presentation of Cassie felt dull and it seemed clear that she didn't seem fully invested. When you cast Hit-Girl from Kick-Ass to reportedly be a strong and self dependent female character, that sounds intriguing immediately. It was just a shame that the character was anything but. For the majority of the movie, her time is spent in the woods reeling from a slight wound when her main focus should be on saving her younger brother's life. So, all in all, Moretz's performance had potential but failed to live up to it. Some of the supporting characters also seemed really bland and it was clear that actors such as Liev Schreiber and Maria Bello were just appearing for a paycheck. But what truly infuriated me was the performance of Alex Roe as Evan Walker. This MTV reject, I felt missed the mark completely. He was nothing but a pure love interest for Cassie and their whole relationship was incredibly forced and made for some painful moments to watch.

The story didn't fare much better. I had to frequently question myself if these characters had just spoken this dialogue because it was simply atrocious. When two characters' attempt at flirting is by discussing cool phone cases, I'm checking out. The opening scene had potential and got me interested as to how it would develop but soon after the title appears, the "waves" that Moretz explains were ridiculously rushed over to the point where I became lost and confused in what was ultimately, a simple exposition. This leads into the poor pacing that, especially in the second act, dragged this film almost to a complete stop. This act featured little character development, and when there was an attempt at some, I didn't care. And if things didn't seem bad enough, there was also the inclusion of below average CGI. There is a moment in the film where Cassie and her classmates witness a plane crash. That whole sequence reminded me of really poor graphics from a PlayStation 2 game. And it just makes me begin to question what went wrong? When special effects are as revolutionary as they are today (Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes, Gravity), how can sub- par effects like this be produced. Other technical aspects to this film such as cinematography, score or editing didn't bother me but nor did it impress me.

However, as much as it may seem that I'm hating on this film, there were moments of enjoyment found. Like I've mentioned, it was a breath of fresh air to see both Robinson and Monroe having fun with their roles and that was clearly conveyed on screen. The action scenes (the few that there are) are surprisingly entertaining. They present the brutal nature of war and it was nice to see fights shot properly without the unnecessary use of shaky-cam. 

So if it's not obvious already, my experience with The 5th Wave wasn't exactly positive and to me, it signifies the drawing of the curtain upon this entire drawn-out, tired and frankly overworked genre. It has moments of promise but those are eventually overshadowed by painful writing and tiresome acting. I severely doubt that there will be a 6th Wave especially after both the critical reception and poor performance at the box office. So my message to Hollywood is this, please, end the suffering. It is clear that people are done with this genre and The 5th Wave only adds another nail to the coffin to bury the dystopian young adult genre for good. You can do that, or, do something different for a change and make a good one.

My Verdict: 3/10

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