The 5th Wave Review

Welcome to 2016, guys! We have a massive slew of movies to watch and review. Some of them look fantastic, some of them will have controversy;  but for now, we'll start the 2016 movie year with The 5th Wave!

Before we get started, let me give a quick shout out to my friend Esmé, for doing my editing. She also has her own blog site at Instgram.com/redsbreadslady. Be sure to check it out and tell her Watchman sent you.

Now on to 5th Wave!
Let me say that I'm a big fan of the books; the concept is done so well that I knew this film would do a great job in adapting the story. How did they do?
Honestly, they did a great job with this movie. I'll even go as far to say that they did a much better job than the Hunger Games movies. My reasoning is that in watching the Hunger Games, you would feel lost if you didn't read the books. That one reason is why I personally feel the first Hunger Games fails as an adaptation. If you need to make your audience do homework just to understand basic plot elements, then you need to rethink your movie.

5th Wave didn't have that problem at all. I saw this movie with some friends who primarily didn't read the book and they weren't lost at all. As someone who did read it, not only was I not lost, but the film still kept all of the main highlights and managed to keep me, the audience, interested all the way through.

Characters:
We have our main character, Cassie, who is struggling to find her brother, despite the chaos that's going on in the world. What I like about her character is that she's not The Chosen One, nor is she a girl that is super skilled in everything since birth. No, she's just your average girl who's struggling to survive an alien invasion. I think Chloë Grace Moretz did a fantastic job with this character. She usually gives 100% in every role she takes and Cassie is no exception. Looking forward to her acting in Infinite Sea.

Zombie is actually one of my favorite characters, and while he isn't as developed in this movie, the actor did a fine job in conveying subtlety with this character. He has more to do in the sequel.

I like Evan, however, his character in the movie was written to be a little too obvious. In the novel, there was more time for development, which resulted in more of a shock when his true nature is revealed. It's not the actor's fault, but it does leave much to be desired

Final Thoughts:
As far as the Books vs. Movies debate, it's no surprise that Book wins this round, not that the movie was bad. The movie did well. The book had the advantage of good development of Cassie's character, while still managing to be engaging. So just for making a better use of time, the Book wins.
Lastly, if you're looking for high class cinema, then you'll be disappointed. If you're looking for just a fun disaster sci-fi movie, reminiscent of classic B movies with good acting, then this is the movie for you. I give this movie a solid A and a great start for 2016.

Next time:
Pride Prejudice and Zombies. Yes, really.