Ron Livingston and Chloe Grace Moretz
ARMAGEDON has arrived and it’s up to teenager Cassie Sullivan (Chloë Grace Moretz) to save the world in “The 5th Wave.”
Originating from the best-selling young adult novel by Rick Yancy and directed by J Blakeson (“The Decent: Part 2”), “The 5th Wave” portrays the arrival of aliens (what else would it be?) to planet Earth to wreak havoc and send 99 percent of all of us down to Davy Jones Locker.
The arrival is benign.
Long distance satellites track the off worlders when they pass the orbit of Mars and keep on going until they stop over Middle America, however there is no invading force with space ships firing green plasma goo as depicted in the near-classic 1996 sci-fi thriller Independence Day.
In fact nothing happens except for this single alien ship hovering somewhere over Macon, Georgia.
Then without warning, all power on Earth collapses. That’s the First Wave. That means every still flying airplane comes crashing down, every car is frozen and every toaster becomes an unused doorstop.
The Second Wave follow-up is a massive—planet wide earthquake—that sends skyscraper high ocean waves into every coastal city, wiping out everything and everyone in its path.
The Philippines as well.
Enter the Sullivan family—parents Oliver and Lisa (Ron Livingston and Maggie Skiff) along with elder daughter Cassie and seven year old Sam (Zachary Arthur) who run right smack dab into The Third Wave which is an incurable disease—carried by birds—taking Mrs. Sullivan along with it.
Actually believing the US Military is out to “save them,” the remaining Sullivans, after planting Mom six feet under in her rose garden, gleefully prance over to the nearest evacuation site.
The results ain’t pretty folks.
CHLOE Grace Moretz
and Alex Roe topbill “The 5th Wave”
Grabbing little Sammy and chucking him into the backseat of an old school bus, the US Army is off to “save” what is left of the pride of humanity with AK-47 toting Cassie in hot pursuit.
Basically, that’s the entire movie–except for spoilers which I dare not share.
The special effects are massive and from a third person point of view, personally glad it was happening to someone else and not me. Both New York City and London are simply washed away and anyone planning to take one of the world-famous metro subways tunnels better be wearing scuba gear or can hold their breath for a very long time.
No, “The 5th Wave” is broken down into three singular stories; with young Cassie trying to track down and rescue her baby brother; another is taken from Sam’s point of view and the final from Ben Parish (Nick Robinson) a former high school football star turned mercenary.
All three stories converge at the film’s end.
Okay. As a disaster film, “The 5th Wave” holds its own pretty well. Global destruction scenes are well directed by Blakeson and you get the sense that pretty much every on good ol’ Terra Firma is burnt toast.
CHLOE Grace Moretz
and Alex Roe topbill
“The 5th Wave”
What doesn’t work mid-way through “The 5th Wave” is an almost obligatory “romance” between Cassie and drop-dead handsome Evan Walker (Alex Roe). He is so forced upon her, its near rape and the “chemistry” between the two are akin to oil and water. Take your pick ‘cause it just doesn’t work.
“The 5th Wave” is an ongoing and unfolding series of novels by the author Yancy—themed for the 16-18 year old age set—with his second novel in the series, The
Infinite Sea, continuing the adventures of Cassie Sullivan.
As a romance flick, “The 5th Wave” is a dud.
As an “end of the world” movie, “The 5th Wave” is basically okay.
But as an action of adventure film, when Cassie is out on her own tracking down her brother and running through seemingly endless empty cars, hunted by an assassin, is where the tension escalates and “The 5th Wave” pounds mercilessly through your veins.
We can only hope that the director of the sequel focuses solely on this level of blood curdling terror as every movie goer will be in for an “edge of your seat” thrill ride.
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