The apocalypse leading to the extinction of humanity is almost imminent as the invasive species known as "The Others" release five deadly waves onto the surviving humans of Earth. The 5th Wave is yet another young-adult film featuring a teenage survivalist as the protagonist and a world where manipulation and trust are issues set by the main antagonist.
Joining a group of many beloved heroines, similar to the likes of Divergent Series and the Hunger Games, the 5th Wave features female protagonist, Cassie Sullivan (Chloë Grace Moretz), as a high-schooler who rapidly changes into a skilled combatant who struggles to stay alive and is lost between the sentiment within her and the events that unfold after the conclusion of the fourth wave.
The film is much like countless of other young-adult films, clichéd and cringe-worthy, but has certain redeeming qualities that manage to make it at the very least enjoyable for entertainment purposes. The 5th Wave attempts to show the audience an alternative present-day reality, in a mediocre technique that renders the film slightly slow-paced and predictably dull. An addition made to the film was a pointless romance between Cassie and Evan Walker (Alex Roe), a man Cassie creates a brief alliance with so that her bullet wound could be cured. This devotion Evan develops towards Cassie is much too sudden, and leaves the audience in confusion as a result of its meaningless effect to the story as a whole.
As the fifth wave begins and the US army begins to gets ready to "take back the advantage", Colonel Vosch (Liev Schreiber), an Other in the guise of the US army's leader of an attempt to get rid of the latter, manipulates the kids who have survived the as aforementioned waves to attack and kill off the rest of the human race. Amongst these kids include Cassie's brother, Sammy Sullivan (Zackary Arthur), who she is desperately trying to save from the clutches of the Others. During this attempt, Cassie leaves Evan and runs into her old crush, Ben Parish (Nick Robinson), and works together with him to retrieve her brother and evacuate the base before Evan detonates it and destroys it completely. After a thrilling, yet clichéd mission that involves the main protagonists, Vosch, and Sammy, Cassie eventually manages to escape the army base with Ben, and goes AWOL with the entirety of Squad 53.
Despite being captivating in its own way, the 5th Wave fails to maintain originality and delivers many scenes that are very similar to those in the young-adult genre in general. Creating a reality where the audience eventually rules out that the protagonists would survive the chase anyway, the 5th Wave fails to make us sympathize with some of the characters and lacks creativity that could have made the film stand out more in the line of many countless others of the same plot and ideas as this one.
The film does have its own merits that manages to help it redeem itself from disaster. One of these includes the enthralling acting by the actresses and the actors. Both Chloë Grace Moretz and Maika Monroe delivered an amazing performance and played their respective characters brilliantly, allowing the scenes to seem more believable and realistic. The male leads, Alex Roe and Nick Robinson also played their characters with such perfection that allowed the film to maintain a certain spell over the audience.
Throughout the film, the pace was rather slow. However, it had a variety of scenes that managed to pick up the pace, creating tension and adding thrill to your viewing experience. To ease the tension, the film includes both humor and exhilaration and applies them to the right times and places in the scenes.
All in all? The film is ultimately satisfying for the casual movie watcher and might spark interest into some of its viewers. The film is thrilling and manages to hold a certain charm from within- never losing the audience's attention from the beginning to the end. While it does has its own flaws and deficiencies, the film does redeems itself with remarkable acting and captivating scenes. The 5th Wave stands strong in its own way and is yet another sophisticated film on its way to join many in the YA film genre.
