Movie Review: The 5th Wave

Movie: The 5th Wave
Genre: SciFi Adventure
Starring: Chloe Grace Moretz, Alex Roe, Nick Robinson, Liev Schreiber
Rating: PG13
My Rating: Two thumbs up

It's always a little nerve wracking when a favorite book is made into a movie, am I right? And this sure is happening a lot these days, and so we are getting pretty used to it, but for me, it was especially like this for The 5th Wave. I loved loved loved the book, even listed it as a favorite the year I read it. (Review here if you are interested.) So it was both cool and scary when I heard it was going to be a movie.

And I'm happy to say I think they did a great job adapting it! Yay for that! It feels like it followed the book really well and everything was how I pictured it. Some tightening here and there, but not much really. Same cliffhanger ending! (Actually the book was worse.)

I thought they did a great job portraying what an apocalypse situation must be like, with one thing after another hitting you, and just when you think you get used to things, it changes again. And the paranoia that comes when you feel you can't trust anyone. I can't even imagine. So even though I totally knew what was going to happen, I was still on the edge of my seat.

And though we didn't get to know Evan Walker quite as well as we did in the book, I still think his character is awesome, because he portrays the whole idea of what makes someone human. I felt his compassion and his softness and his heart all come through loud and clear in the movie. And I love it.

Why do people, and kids especially I guess, love these types of movies (YA dystopian end of the world stories) so much? I think it's because it shows teenagers being strong, resilient and in charge of their survival. They have to rise to the occasion and figure it out because there is no one else there to do it for them. I also think these sorts of movies are popular because they are exciting and scary, simple as that. Though do be warned (and I said this in my review of the book) this one does seem especially brutal.

I did wonder about the twists in this movie. I thought perhaps having NOT read the book would make it even better, but my sister (without having read the book) said she saw them coming a mile away. So I don't know, maybe everything is too predictable, but all I know is that when I was reading the book I was gasping and moaning a lot.

And can I just say, what a cute kid they got to play the little brother! Sheesh.

And Evan Walker wasn't bad except... except that I can NOT get over how much he looks like my nephew. Which kind of weirds me out.

Alex Roe as Evan Walker

The nephew.

What say you?

So bottom line: If you've enjoyed other YA novel adaptions featuring strong resilient teenage heroes doing their best to survive the end of the world, you'll probably enjoy this one as well!

Here's the trailer in case you missed it:




Are you a fan of the book? Have you seen or do you plan to see the movie? What did  you think?