Event Cinemas in George Street was abuzz with this exciting preview of Sony Pictures’ THE 5th WAVE as I dutifully joined the queue of almost exclusively young people for “phone cloaking”, (my first experience of this but a great idea), before being allowed to take a seat. I turned to two of student age and asked whence they came; “We’re from Bangladesh.” “That’s nice. But were you just sent an invite or did you enter a competition, or…?” “Yes. We won a competition.” And the queue moved on.
Inside the cinema I checked with another couple sitting beside me. “Yeah. We entered a competition on Facebook and we both won! I just hope they don’t spend too much time dealing with young romance.” (They didn’t. But more about that later.) Then there was a brief intro from a young host from Dymocks Publishing who awarded gift packs for first correct answers to a quiz about the young adult novel by Rick Yancey from which the movie was made and we were off on our adventure.
THE 5th WAVE is about alien invasion in waves of destruction that include a “Nuclear Pulse” that robs the world of power, a giant flood that devastates the land, a virus that reduces the surviving population, then it’s invasion as ‘the Others try to wipe out any survivors. The 5th Wave is where we take it back.” It stars Chloë Grace Moretz, Nick Robinson, Ron Livingston, Maggie Siff, Alex Roe, Maria Bello, Maika Monroe and Liev Schreiber.
This is an entertaining, fast moving sci-fi adventure flick that ticks all the boxes and accomplishes everything it set out to do. We see our young heroine, Cassie at school where her main concern is the doe eyed boy across the way. (Sighs from the young female audience around me!) “In school, everything is the end of the world.” she says. “But that was the last normal day of my life.” Then the alien space ship turns up and the waves begin.
The acting was good, with standout performances from Chloe Grace Moretz as Cassie and Liev Schreiber as the army Colonel leading earth’s fight back. The cinematography was satisfactory although there were a few too many extreme close ups where Cassie’s face, (or just half of it), or that of one of her young co-stars filled the screen. But I suppose that’s the trade off for saving budget with minimal SFX. There were literally only half a dozen wide ‘disaster’ shots that require Special Effects. And, as is sadly the case more often these days, you’ve seen all but one of them in the trailer! I suppose we’ve been spoilt by films such as Independence Day or even Battle for Los Angeles.
There are a couple of twists in the movie which i won’t reveal. Not all the heroes survive. That’s another plus. But I guess I was reminded of the genre 140 minutes in when, during a dramatic escape, the hero takes time to kiss Cassie, (as you do), then, seeing her school flame looking on, asks:”Who’s he?”; gales of laughter from the entire audience. It was the highpoint of the film for all! (except for myself and the other ‘ancient’ media present.) And that’s no doubt exactly what director, J. Blakeson set out to do! There is a moral delivered via the final quote from Cassie:”The Others (Aliens) thought that hope is a waste of time, but it will be what makes us strong.”
It was fun. Even more if you’re young!
The 5the WAVE is screening in cinemas now.