A review: The 5th Wave

The 5th Wave is an apocalyptic survival story, told through the eyes of Cassie Sullivan (Chloë Grace Moretz). She's just like any other sixteen year old girl (crushing on boys/going to parties) until the day a UFO appears in the sky outside her house. As ten days pass without the authorities being able to make contact, it seems harmless enough. And that's when the first wave of destruction suddenly hits. This is quickly followed by the second wave. And then the third. And the fourth. With the help of Evan Walker (Alex Roe), Cassie's now faced with the difficult task of navigating a new and frightening world in order to reunite with her brother.

I can't claim to be a connoisseur of alien invasion stories (or catastrophe movies in general) but the first half of The 5th Wave felt refreshingly realistic. Not only did the gradual destruction of the planet make sense but so did Cassie's family's reaction as well. I'm sure there are a variety of responses when faced with the unknown but I'm only used to seeing the one where the family haphazardly starts throwing everything into the vehicle and going off to somewhere equally unsafe. That's why I was thoroughly surprised and delighted that The 5th Wave gave us the opposite: despite the UFO hovering above their city, the Sullivans try to wait it out. What that means, for us as viewers, is that we get to experience Cassie's neighborhood emptying at the same time as her school gradually looses its students. It's almost like watching a slow and anxiety-invoking destruction of their society.

Now, I'm not at all opposed to a bit of romance in these types of movies (to be honest.. it feels like the best of both worlds) but when it's predictable and poorly timed with a hint of stalking, I'm less enthused. See – I'm sure love can be found whenever/wherever, but is it really likely that one'll stop to make out in a collapsing building, while desperately trying to find one's brother in time? Also, and I can't stress this enough: any movie with the “I liked you from the moment I saw you, so I proceeded to follow you around wherever you went” trope, automatically looses its credibility. As a result, The 5th Wave ends up with two conflicting halves – the realistic first half and the second (unrealistic) Twilight-y half, which leaves me feeling like I've watched two separate movies.

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