The 5th Wave (2016)

Four waves of increasingly deadly alien attacks have left most of Earth decimated. Cassie is on the run, desperately trying to save her younger brother.

Director:

J Blakeson

Writers:

Susannah Grant (screenplay),  Akiva Goldsman (screenplay)  | 2 more credits »

Stars:

Chloë Grace Moretz,  Matthew Zuk,  Gabriela Lopez  | See full cast & crew »

Storyline

Four waves of increasingly deadly attacks have left most of Earth in ruin. Against a backdrop of fear and distrust, Cassie is on the run, desperately trying to save her younger brother. As she prepares for the inevitable and lethal fifth wave, Cassie teams up with a young man who may become her final hope - if she can only trust him.

The 5th Wave Reviews 

Here's how you write a movie like The 5th Wave in 7 easy steps:

1/ Start from an engaging movie about an alien invasion - say Independence Day

2/ Throw in a twist nicked from elsewhere to make it appear progressive 

• say phases of collapse like in The Day of the Triffids

3/ Make it a young adult movie by killing off all the grown ups

4/ Pick up the "How to write a young adult movie screenplay" Idiots Guide from the local bookstore

5/ Follow the Idiots Guide slavishly, scene by scene, character by character, trope by trope 

6/ Cast some pretty actors and add some collapse of civilisation CGI to distract the audience

7/ Appoint a director who thinks the audience are as stupid as the main characters

There you go, easy. The side effect of this approach is that it's unexpectedly entertaining to accurately predict the next scene/line of dialogue/character to appear before it happens. It's a strange mix of precognition and pantomime.

And pantomimes are always fun.