Mr. Movie: Finally, a fast-moving post-apocalyptic film in ‘The 5th Wave’
The 5th Wave is another in a series of movies based on a post-apocalyptic book. An always interesting Chloë Grace Moretz (If I Stay, Kick-Ass) stars as Cassie Sullivan. She’s a survivor of the alien invasion of a race called The Others. They take over the Earth in five waves. The first is an electromagnetic pulse to shut down all electricity and vehicles. Next comes tidal waves that destroy coastal cities, followed by a plague that kills off a lot of humanity. The fourth wave is silencers who kill as much of the remaining adult population as possible.
You learn the fifth wave as the movie progresses.
Like all post-apocalyptic flicks, the 5th Wave is packed with characters. You’ll meet Cassie’s heartthrob from high school, a young man she meets on her trek to rescue her little brother, soldiers, and other teens and pre-adolescent kids and — of course — cleverly disguised aliens.
Unlike the other world-ending, teen-focused films like The Hunger Games, Divergent and The Maze Runner, this one gets off to a fast and interesting start. The reason is writers Susannah Grant, Akiva Goldsman and Jeff Pinkner, an A-list trio who’ve done great films like Erin Brockovich, A Beautiful Mind, The Da Vinci Code and The Amazing Spider-Man 2.
Director J Blakeson does a great job of putting you in a world decimated by invasion, and while it’s all about teens and young adults, he manages to connect older adults as well as today’s younger moviegoers to these characters and their dilemma.
This is part one of author Rick Yancey’s trilogy. The last book was just released. While it doesn’t appear a sequel is planned anytime soon, if one happens you can — heavy sigh — expect three more movies, that is if the history of other splitting other trilogy books into four parts like The Hunger Games and Twilight prevails.
The 5th Wave
Director: J Blakeson
Stars: Chloë Grace Moretz, Nick Robinson, Alex Roe, Liev Schreiber, Maika Monroe, Zacharay Arthur, Ron Livingston, Maria Bello
Mr. Movie rating: 4 stars
Rated PG-13 for mature themes and some violence. It’s playing at the Carmike 12, the Fairchild Cinemas 12, The Queensgate Cinemas 12 and at Walla Walla Grand Cinemas.
5 stars to 4 1/2 stars: Must see on the big screen.
4 stars to 3 1/2 stars: Good film, see it if it’s your type of movie.
3 stars to 2 1/2 stars: Wait until it comes out on DVD.
2 stars to 1 star: Don’t bother.
0 stars: Speaks for itself.
This story was originally published January 21, 2016 at 3:17 PM with the headline "Mr. Movie: Finally, a fast-moving post-apocalyptic film in ‘The 5th Wave’."