Dire made it on to my list of actresses that I would see in almost any film after I saw Kick Ass for the first time. Her performance in that film is still one of the most memorable breakthrough performances of any actress or actor that I can think of. She carried that film and thus earned enough respect from me to give any film she graces her presence with a chance. Thus, I took my wife and daughter to see The 5th Wave, which currently has a 5.6 out of 10 on IMDB and 23% on Rotten Tomatoes, to give it a chance.
The film focuses on Cassie Sullivan (Moretz) who is living on Earth after an alien presence releases four waves of destruction wiping out much of the human population. After being separated from her brother she tries to make it to him to return his stuffed bear and keep her promise that she’ll be with him.
Nick Robinson plays Ben Parish, which was Cassie’s pre-apocalypse crush, and Alex Roe plays Evan Walker, which is Cassie’s post-apocalyptic crush, making this film sound like the third take on the Twilight franchise. Add in the fact that this is a series of three books, a strong female lead, and a potential love triangle and set it in a post-apocalyptic world and we have a teenage franchise in the making.
The film wasn’t bad and Chloë gave a strong performance. I would argue that her crying seen is better and more believable than anything Jennifer Lawrence did in the Hunger Games, except that it is visibly lacking any tears. Cassie’s character is developed a little, but not quite enough to make her memorable.
I’m a fan of sci-fi so this is a welcome change from some of the other teen films that are out there. However, it’s not quite doing anything to change the genre channeling elements of Independence Day, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and They Live. On the other hand, it is nice having another female lead in a sci-fi pic, but Daisy Ridley as Rey was so amazing on screen that it makes Cassie feel like an afterthought.
The special effects are fine and the few actions scenes aren’t bad at all. Ultimately it’s a decent movie that doesn’t really seem like it’s going to do anything near what Hunger Games or Twilight did. Some of the talent is underused, and the story isn’t the jaw dropper I was hoping to find. The characters are a little weakly developed and the plot seems hard to stretch into any more films without a major change. I give The 5th Wave a 6 out of 10 alien invaders.
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