The 5th Wave (2016) ☆ ☆

I’ve been interested in this movie ever since I read Rick Yancey’s book a couple of years ago.  It’s an ◊◊apocalyptic thriller depicting an alien invasion of Earth.  The book was quite involving once I accepted its premise, and the fact that most of the world’s population is wiped out before the action gets going.  The movie follows the same path, but at least presents the first four waves that threaten our extinction.

J. Blakeson’s film follows a pretty teenage girl, Cassie (Chloë Grace Moretz) as the aliens arrive, zap our power, cause massive earthquakes, spread avian flu, infiltrate the surviving population and finally enact their most insidious plot to cleanse the Earth of humans.  Separated from her little brother, she tries to find and rescue him, aided by a mysterious guy named Evan (Alex Roe).

The film is pretty faithful to the book, but simply doesn’t have its impact.  From the first scene, Blakeson’s movie feels artificial.  It’s not gritty or dark enough, Cassie doesn’t suffer convincingly enough, and the premise just isn’t particularly original.  Like other popular current series tentpoles, this movie depends on kids and teens in peril, facing obliteration and struggling to survive.  It’s all becoming a bit old, and this movie suffers accordingly.

But it also never hits its stride.  It isn’t made poorly; it just isn’t made particularly well.  The. characters are more ciphers than people, except for Ringer (Maika Monroe) and Vosch (Liev Schreiber).  It also has a dearth of special effects; most of the action takes place in woods or an air force base.  It is intended to establish a franchise, but this movie is so bland it may not even rate a sequel.  ☆ ☆. 2 February 2016.

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