The 5th Wave
Published 2016-06-05
Film info
- Title The 5th Wave
- Director J Blakeson
- Year 2016
- Run time 1hr 52m
- Genres Adventure, Science Fiction, Action
- Tagline Protect your own
- Cast Chloë Grace Moretz
Four waves of increasingly deadly alien attacks have left most of Earth decimated. Against a backdrop of fear and distrust, Cassie is on the run, desperately trying to save her younger brother. As she prepares for the inevitable and lethal 5th wave, Cassie teams up with a young man who may become her final hope - if she can only trust him.
Live blog
| Time | Comment |
|---|---|
| 1:12 | Hmm, I need a good backpack for when the aliens invade. |
| 2:06 | Bear in the backpack! |
| 9:00 | The Others, they totally got that from LOST. |
| 11:45 | That is literally the second wave. |
| 19:11 | It’s sort of hard to know why going to the camp would help. |
| 23:56 | As a story, it’s captivating. |
| 26:40 | At some point, you sort of have to accept the Others have the advantage! |
| 30;28 | Bear in one hand, rifle in the other. My kind of heroine. |
| 39:09 | Gaffa tape fixes everything! |
| 44:20 | Why do they have to use kids for the army? |
| 45:23 | Inspirational speech, how does it not finish with: “This is our independence.” |
| 1:00:17 | Her dark eye makeup is fabulous, I wish I could do goth eyes like that. |
| 1:09:04 | “What did you peg me as, a cheerleader?’ |
| 1:18:46 | As scary as this is for the kids, the actors must be loving it - what kids get to play army like this? |
| 1:22:29 | Argh, the pressure of telling someone where to shoot someone else so they don’t die! |
| 1:26:45 | Even if love is just an instinct, that doesn’t make it a bad thing. |
| 1:31:52 | That’s why we have wireless mice on our desks. |
| 1:35:57 | She did the disarm thing, yay! |
| 1:43:05 | Humph at blowing up the awesome bunker. |
Thoughts
I was expecting this to be some kind of disaster movie, given the title and the cover, but it turned out to be the first part in what could potentially be yet another young adult trilogy. I've not heard of it, nor read it, but it soon became clear that it was in the young adult genre, and the somewhat cliffhanger at the end was seriously annoying.
Chloe was very good, as always, and I thought they were a good group of kids that were capable of holding the film well, but I'm not sure I totally enjoyed it. The first half was really interesting, and it rocketed through the story very quickly, in a fascinating fashion.
However, there was a tipping point where it started to be less believable, full of questions without answers, and generally dragging towards what turned out to be not any kind of conclusion.
It didn't make sense that ALL the cars stopped working from an EMP because my limited knowledge of physics suggests that older cars and generators and things would still function. Why did no one question the army when they came driving in on cars that were not supposed to be working, why did they not put up more of a fight to stay with their children, why didn't they ask the army guy whether he was an alien too, rather than end up just shooting each other?
Why did none of the kids think it weird they were becoming an army? What the heck could aliens possibly want with earth anyway? And crucially, what was going on in the rest of the world??
So, it was alright in places but frustrating as a whole, and it was very clearly the first in a series of films rather than a standalone movie.
Rating: 2 / 5