The 5th Wave movie review: Large portions of the popular book have been left out in filming

Large portions of the popular book — the third in the trilogy is still being written — have been left out in filming. However, it’s unclear if anything could have helped this mistimed and ill-directed venture whose disjointed parts jar in contrast.

One thread involves Cassie (Moretz) who has seen her mother die of a virus (the 3rd wave), her father killed by the Army and her brother taken away by soldiers along with other children to a military base. On the run and trying to make her way to brother Sam (Arthur), she meets Evan Walker (Roe), a boy deft in medical care, emotional intelligence and handling guns.

In the parallel story line, her brother (none the worse for the separation) is being trained for “the fight against The Others (the aliens)” by Colonel Vosch (Schreiber), who runs the Army base. Here one of Sam’s constant companions is the aforementioned and long-forgotten crush of Cassie, Ben (Robinson).

As conspiracies un-spool — Armymen killing Cassie’s father and other parents didn’t really leave any mystery — Cassie manages to get a glimpse of Evan’s bare torso and has an earth-shattering moment of own.

To people of an older generation, that blow comes a couple of scenes earlier when Bello appears as a senior Army officer in grotesque make-up that includes heavily coloured lips and thickly gelled hair. The fate of that lipstick is the real tragedy of The 5th Wave.

Directed by J Blakeson
Starring Chloe Grace Moretz, Nick Robinson, Alex Roe, Zackary Arthur, Liev Schreiber, Maria Bello
Stars 1