I think I’ll put as much work into this review as the filmmakers did into the latest young adult novel adaptation.
In The 5th Wave, Cassie (Chloe Moretz) recounts the events that brought on the seeming end of the world. Aliens started showing up a while ago and have destroyed technology, great cities and the majority of the world’s population in their successful takeover of Earth. Now, Cassie and the rest of the survivors await the oncoming 5th wave of attacks.
Does anyone feel like this movie is three years too late?
I feel we’ve reached the moment in the young adult era where the phase is just about over. This happened before, just after Lord or the Rings and Harry Potter owned the box office. A few flicks, like Eragon and The Golden Compass did their darndest to create a cinematic franchise, but quickly disappeared without ever getting sequels.
I’m sure the producers want a success in the vein of Insurgent or Maze Runner. However, the 5th Wave will most likely join the ranks of The Mortal Instruments, Beautiful Creatures and Vampire Academy as failures in the genre.
This movie made me feel tired because the movie is tired. It didn’t try anything new or surprising. The actors turned in laughably stiff performances. Moretz added some star power, but didn’t seem to care much beyond showing up. Her costars, Maika Monroe (It Follows) and Alex Roe are downright atrocious in their roles.
There seems to be a decent story somewhere underneath the tropes and predictable plot-lines, but it’s as if everyone involved threw up their arms and said, It’s a little too late for this to be popular.
Humans may have survived earthquakes, tsunamis and the bird flu, but it cannot survive the 5th wave – Boredom. D+
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