Cassie enjoys a happy life as a typical high schooler until, wouldn't you just know it, an alien invasion comes along. After a week or two of sitting ominously over the planet scoping stuff out, the aliens ("Others") start with a 1st wave - an electromagnetic pulse taking out all power, followed by earthquakes which wreck stuff and cause floods (I got the impression that Lake Erie emptied itself across Ohio), then bird super-flu, followed by snipers. The 5th wave is awaited, albeit not especially eagerly.
Chloe Moretz plays Cassie, and it's a role she can play with her eyes closed. I won't say that's what she does – that would be unfair: she is called upon to emote, and there are some physical demands – but she has made stronger impressions in the past and she will no doubt make stronger impressions in the future. This is a bit of a weird one. It's a post-apocalypse tale, one of my favourite science fiction sub-genres, and it's quite promising in its early stages, but then the army comes along and it suddenly switches into something rather more gung-ho than was promised at the start.
Also, it doesn't seem to know quite what level to pitch itself at: there is a strong feel of Young Adult franchise a la Hunger Games, Maze Runner, Divergent (especially as there is all sorts of unresolved stuff at the end, demanding a follow-up), which means that it doesn't satisfy as an adult take on the material, but it's quite strong in terms of blood, protagonists killing innocents, and language. I'm not sure it succeeds at the level it's pitched at, because I'm not sure that level actually exists.
Don't expect questions to be answered, either – vehicles work for some, not for others, for a start off. And I certainly needed rather more convincing about Evan than was provided.
I quite enjoyed it, even though it didn't work properly.
Chloe Moretz plays Cassie, and it's a role she can play with her eyes closed. I won't say that's what she does – that would be unfair: she is called upon to emote, and there are some physical demands – but she has made stronger impressions in the past and she will no doubt make stronger impressions in the future. This is a bit of a weird one. It's a post-apocalypse tale, one of my favourite science fiction sub-genres, and it's quite promising in its early stages, but then the army comes along and it suddenly switches into something rather more gung-ho than was promised at the start.
Also, it doesn't seem to know quite what level to pitch itself at: there is a strong feel of Young Adult franchise a la Hunger Games, Maze Runner, Divergent (especially as there is all sorts of unresolved stuff at the end, demanding a follow-up), which means that it doesn't satisfy as an adult take on the material, but it's quite strong in terms of blood, protagonists killing innocents, and language. I'm not sure it succeeds at the level it's pitched at, because I'm not sure that level actually exists.
Don't expect questions to be answered, either – vehicles work for some, not for others, for a start off. And I certainly needed rather more convincing about Evan than was provided.
I quite enjoyed it, even though it didn't work properly.