Movie Reaction: The 5th Wave

Formula: Ender's Game * Invasion of the Body Snatchers

Cast: You see this movie because of Chloe Grace Moretz. Looking at the rest of the cast, landing her was an outright coup for the production. The rest of the young cast is up-and-coming actors: Nick Robinson (Jurassic World), Maika Monroe (It Follows), Zackary Arthur (Transparent), and Alex Roe (no recognizable credits). Maggie Siff and Ron Livingston have blink-and-you'll-miss-them parts. Maria Bello and Liev Schreiber are the adult authority figures.

Plot: Aliens begin an assault on Earth. They do this is five phases, or waves: 1) Cut power, 2) flood, 3) bird flu, )4...I kind of forget, and 5) attack internally by using humans as hosts. Cassie (Moretz) is a regular teenage girl. She loses her parents, gets separated from her brother, and is determined to find him. Meanwhile, her brother gets pulled into an all-child military assault force tasked with battling the aliens. Obviously, twenty sequels are planned, so only a small amount of this gets resolved.

Thoughts:
It turns out that Moretz isn't immune from choosing roles in bad movies after all. I simply didn't enjoy this movie. The plot is gibberish. Nothing about it makes sense. The masterplan of the aliens is highly inefficient. If they are powerful enough to cause these waves, they are also powerful enough to find a more effective plan. Cassie is completely without survival instincts. She really should've died early on (and the explanation for why she doesn't die doesn't cover nearly enough holes). It's outright comical the reason why either side - the humans or the aliens - would use children to fight their war. And it's hilarious every time one of the 8-year-olds are supposed to be seen as military officers. Of all the Young Adult dystopias being made into movies, of which I've seen many, this is by far the most ridiculous story. It has every trope and a story the completely unravels if you pick at it at all.

It's clear why Moretz would want to do this movie. She's proven both that she can lead a movie (If I Stay, Carrie) and excels at action (Either Kick-Ass movie). I have no trouble seeing her as the next female heroine of this ilk in line after Jennifer Lawrence and Shailene Woodley. She can handle that, but she's wasted in this. The way the movie plays, it feels like this was meant to be more of an ensemble movie, and they tried to rework it to make her a lead. Because, what's going on with her and what's going on with Arthur (her bother), Robinson, and Monroe are different movies. I'd be more interested in follow either story alone rather than both concurrently. There are some good ideas at the center of this. It's just missing the writing and execution.

I could forgive just about all of this. I really could. This could be kids movie, like a Spy Kids with a bit more edge, and I'd give it a pass. This is a dark movie though. There's deaths, a lot of them. Protagonists kill innocent people. Tons of gun play. It's got the one "fuck" allowed in a PG-13 movie. This wants to be an adult movie, so I have to pick at it as one.

Elephant in the Room: So will you see the theoretical sequel? Dammit...yeah, probably. I am well-documented fan of Moretz. She'll get me into a theater, and the movie is technically proficient enough to enjoy as long as I completely turn off my brain. Where this movie ends, Moretz is better positioned to dominate whatever follows. Maybe kill off everyone other than her and Maika Monroe. Those are the only two interesting characters.

To Sum Things Up:
The 5th Wave tries to do too much and ends up squandering the talent involved, namely Moretz. Sadly, I can't think of a single thing about it worth recommending unless this genre is exactly what you're into or you're the world's biggest Chloe Grace Moretz fan (guilty).

Verdict (?): Strongly Don't Recommend