THE 5TH WAVE – The Review

Well film fans, 2016’s not even a month old and we’re already back in “young adult novel” land at the multiplex. Well, it’s not the tear-jerker terminal romance of THE FAULT IN OUR STARS or IF I STAY. No it’s another one about a horrible future in which several special “gifted” (and highly photogenic) teenagers are humanity’s only hope. Betcha’ thought that the last installment of THE HUNGER GAMES would bring down the curtain on these tormented teen tales. Not likely since a new series pops up almost every week at your local bookstore (oh, we are lucky to have these fine establishments, so support them). While this new film does possess familiar elements of other “YA” novel based movies, the producers have thrown in a few unique themes and twists. And it stars one of our most interesting young actors (the star of the earlier mentioned STAY). You won’t need a surfboard to catch THE 5TH WAVE, just a theatre ticket.

The flick fades in on another awful day in life of eighteen year-old Cassie Sullivan (Chloe Grace Moretz). Her narration quickly brings us back to the good times just months ago. Cassie was enjoying her last year of high school…going to “keggers”, mooning over that dreamy Ben Parish (Nick Robinson), and loving her picture perfect family: Mom (Maggie Siff), Dad (Ron Livingston), and sweet kid brother Sam (Zackary Arthur). But then that gnarly spaceship showed up. More like a massive fortress floating across the country. The occupants (dubbed “the others”) make no effort to communicate, so the military doesn’t engage them. Then the others strike by emitting an aerial “pulse” that knocks out all electrical and battery power (this is named the “first wave”). The Sullivans survive the chaos in time for the second wave consisting of brutal earthquakes and tidal waves. Then much of the remaining populace is claimed by the third wave, a souped-up, even deadlier version of the “avian flu”. Cassie’s family makes their way to a makeshift woodland commune until the military arrives (hmm, their vehicles work fine). The commander, Colonel Vosch (Liev Schrieber) tells of the fourth wave: the others inhabit and take over human earth bodies. In order to combat this, all children under 18 will be taken by bus to the Air Force base to be scanned for alien infestation. A melee breaks out after Cassie doesn’t make it back to Sam’s bus in time (oh, and all the adults are killed). She roams the countryside until an injury lands her in the home of the sympathetic (and also dreamy) Evan Walker (Alex Roe). Meanwhile Sam and all the surviving kids (including Ben!) are trained to become alien fighters by Vosch and Sergeant Reznik (Maria Bello). But no matter the distance between them or the danger, Cassie is determined to re-unite with Sam.

Ms Moretz utilizes her considerable acting skills to bat trying to smooth the rough edges of this often clichéd story. She shows us Cassie slowly morphing from free-wheeling and carefree to focused, desperate hero, letting us see her nearly give in to panic before improvising a plan of action. Robinson’s Ben also goes through a similar (but unseen) arc, becoming a leader to the other “lost boys” (and girls), and earning the nickname “Zombie”. Roe, completing this triangle, is the required hunky “beefcake” complete with soulful eyes, who conveys a world-weary sadness, prior to his bathing in the stream “eye candy” sequence. Schrieber is stern gravitas as the soldier/father figure (or maybe a tough, grizzled uncle). Bello is almost unrecognizable in heavy makeup and severe peaked hair (topped with a southern twang)  oozes cruel contempt as she indoctrinates her new recruits. Special mention should be made of the often scene-stealing Maika Monroe (star of last year’s cult thriller IT FOLLOWS) who dyes her sunny blonde locks raven black to portray tough girl (er, “grrrl”) as the goth gladiator Ringer, her racoon-like eyes honing in any weakness (now her backstory would make for a great spin-off flick).

Three screenwriters, Susannah Grant, Avika Goldsman, and Jeff Pinkner, have tried to craft the desperate threads of Rick Yancey’s novel into a coherent script, but the source material often gets the better of them. Yes, the story owes quite a bit to TWILIGHT and THE HUNGER GAMES, but so many other inspirations (perhaps too many) are tossed into this overcooked stew: INDEPENDENCE DAY, CONTAGION, THE THING, STARSHIP TROOPERS, INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS, along with 70’s Irwin Allen disaster flicks. From the opening sequence we also feel like we’re not far from TV’s “The Walking Dead” (this movie’s shot in Georgia too) with Cassie dashing about the woods and empty streets, toting an AK-47, her face smudged with grime and dirt (but her golden hair fresh from a shampoo commercial). But the action never meshes smoothly with the “which boy will she choose” soggy romance. The effects are competently done even though the scenes of the “second wave” play like bonus DVD extras from SAN ANDREAS. Director J Blakeson tries to guide (using far too much slow-motion) the subplots like a cinema traffic cop, but everything collides and crashes in a clunky muddeled ending that wants to set things up for a franchise. A 6th wave, perhaps? Not when THE 5TH WAVE sinks like a stone. Glub, glub!

1.5 Out of 5