The 5th Wave

Year: 2016
Genre: Sci-Fi Action
Directed: J Blakeson
Stars: Chloe Grace Moretz, Nick Robinson, Alex Roe, Liev Schreiber, Zackary Arthur, Ron Livingston, Maika Monroe, Tony Revolori, Maria Bello, Maggie Siff
Production: Columbia Pictures

5th Wave represents the absolute nadir of Hunger Games-clone science fiction. This tonally schizophrenic, tedious exercise in survivalist disaster porn has the strong, pungent smell of weepy romanticism that threatens to overwhelm every interesting idea that captures the audiences' imagination. I cannot attest to the quality of the book series written by Rick Yancey but if the quality is anywhere near the level of this messy, disjointed, ambling film then I'm starting to question young peoples' choices in reading material.

Cassie (Moretz) is just an ordinary middle-class high school girl living in a quiet suburb in Ohio. She has a loving family and a strong connection to her little brother Sam (Arthur) whom she sings to sleep when he's feeling anxious. Then (ominous music) the "Others" come. The Others, an alien race looking to invade, attack humanity with wave after wave of synchronized attacks. They keep their own causalities low by; first cutting the power to the entire globe, destroying coastal cities with tsunamis and earthquakes, modifying the avian flu to cause a massive plague and deploying drones and snipers to pick off survivors one by one. Finally there is talk of a 5th wave that could mark the end of humanity, that is unless Cassie, her brother and a pod of diverse and supposedly original characters can do something about it. Oh and yes, by the end of the movie the pieces are set for the same normal-girl-chooses-between-two-hot-dudes scenario we've seen in everything from The Hunger Games series (2012-2015) to The Twilight Series (2008-2012)

The tone of this film is so incredibly humdrum that it's hard to really care about the fate of any of our protagonists. Family goodbyes and reunions are treated with the same visual bluntness as a tsunami hitting New York City and Cassie herself is so poorly written, that it's hard not to cheer for the Others which prove clever, interesting and emotionally complex by comparison. It's a shame too because under all the unspoken absurdities, tone-deaf directorial choices, and overcooked melodrama, there is a decent story underneath the rubble. There are interesting parallels between The 5th Wave, the Colombian Exchange and the concept of "going native" none of which get's explored. Instead of tapping into anything remotely resembling complexity i.e. anything that makes apocalyptic fiction so darn addicting, we get Chloe Grace Mortez gazing starry-eyed at the muscular Alex Roe chopping wood in the backyard.

Speaking of our two would-be suitors; Roe plays the earnest and resourceful Evan who has a few secrets up his sleeve. Evan and Cassie share a passionate kiss on the back of a an abandoned station wagon after moments of flirting that involves Cassie being shot in the leg and practicing the art of disarming someone; sexy. Meanwhile, Nick Robinson plays Ben, the high school sweetheart turned military's last hope. When Cassie and her little brother get separated, Ben takes the mantle of little kid protector and is rewarded by Cassie coincidentally appearing at the same place at the same time to do the exact same thing. Both of our supposed Romeos are willing to do anything to protect Cassie who has done nothing to deserve their attention other than wash her hair and exfoliate despite traipsing though the woods for weeks.

Hasn't showered for months...looks like this.

Stories like "The Road" and "The Last Man" deal with a total collapse of human systems that we largely take for granted. After the Atomic Age, post-apocalyptic fiction became more popular than ever, seeping into film with such masterworks as Night of the Living Dead (1968), Panic in Year Zero! (1962) and The Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956). We eat it up partly because it's a dark form of wish fulfillment and partly as a challenging "what if". The psychology of individuals who deal with the end of the world as we know it intrigues us because we constantly question what we ourselves would do in a similar situation. 5th Wave answers that question in the most asinine way possible...get the hots for like, two different guys of course #winkyface.

Final Grade: F