Cassie (Chloe Grace Moretz) must survive in a
world besieged
by an alien invasion which comes in waves.
The first wave is loss of power, the second wave is disaster, the third
wave is disease, and now the fifth wave is about to begin as Cassie travels to
reunite with her kid brother. The US
military has recruited kids in their fight to kill the aliens known as the
Others.
THE 5TH WAVE
is a solid alien invasion thriller with Chloe Grace Moretz delivering a solid
and fragile performance as Cassie, but Maika Monroe steals every scene she is
in as the character Ringer (which makes me wish THE 5th WAVE
was all from Ringer’s POV). Even though
the film starts not at the beginning, but thankfully the events told in
flashback don’t ruin the plot. I hope
they make the sequel soon which I hear is from Ringer’s POV, but I think
Columbia pictures will probably want the movie be based on Cassie’s POV. I
love about almost every movie Chloe is in,
but Maika just plays just a badass character that she gives Chloe a run for her
money when it comes to character performance.
The actor who has the thankless performance is Liev Schreiber who plays
the generic military figure of authority who is more than meets the eye. So
probably the only big complaint with the
movie are the alien bad guys are pretty faceless and the movie could have spent
a little more time developing many of the characters instead of it just being
Cassie’s journey mixed in with knowing a little bit about the other characters
including Ben (aka Zombie), Ringer, and Cassie’s little brother. Movie
adaptations of Young Adult novels are
big business as every movie studio is looking for the next HUNGER GAMES or
Harry Potter success. Hopefully, there
is a sequel to THE 5TH WAVE as it
is at least entertaining enough for one watch whether you go see it in theaters
or wait to rent it on digital, DVD, or
blu-ray
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Feature Audio Commentary with Director J Blakeson
and Actress
Chloe Grace Moretz as they talk about the making of the movie and how the
production was limited by the number of hours they could use the actors under
18 years old (and what the director did to get around those restrictions with
hand, feet, and body doubles)).
11 deleted scenes (25 minutes total) that include
additional
story and character points like more training scenes of Squad 53 and what would
have been during the events in the first fourth of the movie
Gag reel
INSIDE THE 5TH WAVE
(approx 15 min)- a making-of featurette with behind-the-scenes footage, film
clips, and interviews with cast and crew
THE 5TH WAVE
SURVIVAL GUIDE- tips on how to survive the world of THE 5TH WAVE
TRAINING SQUAD 53- a behind-the-scenes look at
training the
kids who play Squad 53
CREATING A NEW WORLD- the
visual effects of THE 5TH WAVE-
learn they added some digital elements to make the air force base seem more
impressive for the film
SAMMY ON THE SET- the actor who plays Cassie’s
little
brothers asks for advice on being a filmmaker form various members of the crew
Previews for PRIDE+PREJIDUCE & ZOMBIES, MONEY
MONSTER,
RATTER, and THE DRIFTLESS AREA
Code to download and/or stream a digital HD copy
of the
movie
FINAL ANALYSIS: THE 5TH
WAVE might have a sequel given how it was
mad under $40 million and the worldwide box office was almost triple that plus the
earnings on blu-ray, DVD, and digital will
add to the money Sony is making off of it.
The deleted scenes prove they might have made a more developed and satisfying
movie, but THE 5TH WAVE is
entertaining enough on a repeat viewing and will continue to find fans. The
extras aren’t bad and I hope they make
the sequel soon of the second book in the trilogy.
This review is ©5-4-2016
David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission. Send all comments
to feedback@enterline-media.com
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