The Fifth Wave | Movie Review & Discussion | Faith

The human race stands on the brink of extinction as a series of alien attacks decimate the planet, causing earthquakes, tsunamis and disease. Separated from her family, Ohio teenager Cassie Sullivan (Chloë Grace Moretz) will do whatever it takes to reunite with her brother Sam. Fate leads her to form an alliance with Evan Walker (Alex Roe), a mysterious young man who may be her last hope. Forced to trust each other, Cassie and Evan fight for survival during the fifth assault from the invaders.

- Wikipedia Synopsis

This review WILL contain SPOILERS! 

You can read my book review for The Fifth Wave HERE

I was very late to the party. I couldn't watch the movie as early and as soon as everybody else. However I definitely think that it was worth the wait. I have heard lots of mixed reviews about this film and I made sure that I wouldn't watch/read anybody else's reviews on this film because I did not want my opinion to be influenced by others.

Let's start off with Chloe Grace Moretz. From the very moment I had heard that she was going to be playing Cassie in this movie, I was so excited because I had seen her in various films such as Carrie and If I Stay. I thought that she really captured and embodied Cassie in the film. She displayed her strength as well as her vulnerability and it was wonderful. I found that she had really great chemistry with all of the actors she had scenes with such as her father, brother, Ben Parish and of course Evan Walker. 

You see, I don't really remember the book that well because I read it in 2013. Usually before I go see a book-movie adaptation I will re-read the book it is based on. This time I didn't because I just have too much to read and I thought I remembered everything but I clearly didn't.

From what I remember and from what I saw, this film was quite loyal to the book. I could identify a few changes here and there mainly with the interactions with some of the characters but overall it was like the book. I thought that the book translated really well to screen, I couldn't see it happening any other way since the book was very movie like in a sense. I noticed that it made me feel the same things I felt while I was reading the book, such as the part where her father is killed when Evan leaves Cassie etc.

One of my favourite scenes in the film was when Evan was in the lake and when Cassie was watching him. I just thought it was so funny seeing Cassie just awkwardly limp off when she see's Evan catch her watching him. I loved seeing Evan. I thought that you could really tell that he cared for her.

In this film, I thought that Cassie's and Evan's relationship was displayed very well. I loved Alex Roe as Evan Walker, this was the first I have seen him and I was very pleased with his performance as Evan. I definitely believe that he is a strong actor. He held himself very well during the film. It honestly felt like I was watching Evan and not just an actor pretending. Well... I felt that with all of the actors.

While I was reading the book, it kind of felt like Cassie was very unsure about her feelings towards in the film. It was like she didn't want to love him but she did. That is just my opinion. In the movie, it felt like she was already so sure of her feelings. 

Something I was kind of skeptical about was Cassie's crush on Ben Parish. In the book, it's this whole awkward and funny thing and so on. In the film, I thought it wasn't as awkward as the book but there were certain sayings and actions that really made it funny for me. I really liked the part where Evan saw Ben, it was so great.

Let's talk about Nick Robinson. The only thing that I've seen Nick in was the Disney Channel movie Geek Charming so I really couldn't have a judgement on him while going into this film. In the book, I never really had an opinion on him. In the movie I was all for his character and all of the sudden I started to like his character. Maybe part of it was seeing the character on screen and not just in my brain.

There were plenty of great scenes in this film. I found that the action scenes weren't as great as I was expecting, they were okay. However, I really loved the special FX in the film. I thought that they were really well done. Other scenes that I loved was the scene where Cassie see's her father dead and every single scene with Sammy.

The actor who played Sammy was so cute and did a wonderful job. I really wish we had more of Nugget scenes with Ben but sadly we didn't get to see that. His interactions with his family were so sweet, and to me they really felt like a family. You could feel the love between all of them.

In the book, we got see multiple perspectives. In The Fifth Wave movie, you could tell that it was more centred towards Cassie. That is something that I wish they didn't do. While I do love Cassie and she is my favourite character in the books, I wanted to see more of the other characters. Even though we did see Ben's perspective, we literally only saw Ben's perspective. What I mean by that is that we didn't get to see many of his relationships with other characters. There were slight moments but the relationship wasn't really built like it was in the book.

Something that I really loved about this movie was the pacing. I loved how it went from one action sequence to a silent or dramatic scene. To me, it kind of felt a little bit like The Hunger Games films, if you noticed the way things were edited together you would know what I mean. It really gave the film a mood and an essence.

The Fifth Wave had everything that I look for in a film like this. There were action sequences but it didn't overpower the issues that they were facing. I loved the moments where we got to stop and feel with the characters or feel the adrenaline that they were feeling. There were so many moments in this film when my heart was racing because I was scared for the characters even though I knew what was going to happen.

There was only one character that I had a problem with in this movie and that was Ringer. I thought she did seem very strong and powerful but it felt like it wasn't enough. She was the only actor that I felt I could literally see the person portraying their character. I thought her performance was quite good but the essence wasn't quite there for me. If we get a sequel, I am hoping we will get to see more of her just so we can see how she grows into the role.

The only thing that I would've liked to see more of is the relationships between the characters. The film did not really show or do them justice in my opinion. While I did love what I saw, there was still a lack of it. The relationships were such a big part of the book and they were just merely hinted at in the film, and that was disappointing. 

Overall I loved this film! I will say my expectations were a little bit different than what I saw but I loved what I saw. It wasn't as intense as I was expecting/wanted. Most of the actors did a great job playing their roles and I really hope we can get sequel because I would love to see the whole trilogy get adapted. I will admit, this film wasn't perfect. I would rate this film a 3.5 out of 5 stars.

I hope you enjoyed reading this review!

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