“The 5th Wave” may not have done well—at all—at the box office, but I still saw it, so why not review it?
What Works: Chloe Grace Moretz is a great actress no matter how bad the movie she’s in, and here she combines some of the best elements from Divergent’s Shailene Woodley (vulnerable, expressive eyes, real-girl appeal) and Hunger Games’ Katniss (eventually becoming steely and capable). And “5th Wave” does something that “Games” never had the guts to do which is make its protagonist a real killer. In the opening scene, Moretz shoots an unarmed man she mistook for dangerous.
By letting its hero get a little more morally compromised than most Young Adult adaptations, “5th Wave” is doing something a little different. Not to mention scenes where the military “saviors” (led by an excitingly ambiguous Liev Schreiber) slaughter whole towns of adults they think may be aliens-hosts. The film uses Libertarian paranoia of authority to tap into the animosity teenagers may feel towards their own authority figures. By living in the gray areas, the movie isn’t totally boring…
What Doesn’t: …Nor is it totally interesting. Sure, there are some sleepy scenes, but I went in with no expectations whatsoever, and left pleasantly surprised. I wouldn’t recommend running to find a theater this is still playing in, but when it gets to HBO it’s probably worth spending a sleepy night at home watching it.
What I Would Have Done Differently: Keep in mind, this is a film I had no real desire to see, and it wasn’t bad. I’m not sure I can ask for much more than that.