I am an ardent fan of the cinematic arts. Although I have certain genre preferences, I don’t let that stifle my curiosity and close myself to different flavors of entertainment. That said...I am a huge fan of science fiction, super hero and action movies! Even though this film falls within the sci-fi genre, please visit my other blog The Boxed Office for reviews, exclusively, on these types of movies.
The Cast:
Chloë Grace Moretz is absolutely fabulous in a film that lets her showcase her athletic ability (Kick-Ass) and although she hasn’t broken through as a heavyweight dramatic actress, she is very young and has plenty of time to develop. Unfortunately, films like these can only serve to be learning experiences for her as the script didn’t even begin to further her craft.
Nick Robinson hasn’t done much, although he did well in Jurassic World, this film really gave him nothing to work with and his character’s nickname (Zombie) was aptly named given the delivery of whatever it was he was doing.
To be very fair, neither one of these actors is “bad” but it’s very hard to discern that when they are thrust into a film were “bad” is the kindest thing you can say about it.
The Plot:
Aliens come to Earth and begin to wipe out the population in a succession of “waves” of various types of destruction (earthquakes, plagues, etc) culminating in the fifth one which is supposed to be the nail in the coffin.
Cassie Sullivan (Moretz) is a survivor of the previous four waves and seeks to keep her little brother safe after her father is killed by the military. Of course her brother is captured and she sets out on a journey to liberate him.
Ben Parish aka Zombie (Robinson) is one of the children captured by the military and put through an indoctrination program. Of course he begins to question everything and eventually rebels against his “programming.”
In her quest to free her brother, Sullivan comes across Evan Walker (Alex Roe) who isn’t all he appears to be, and eventually get his help. What follows is one of the most disjointed, senseless plots I have ever seen on the silver screen.…making it a task to even watch.
The Verdict:
This film had so many plot holes and ridiculous moments, I don’t even know where to begin with this. I found myself yelling at the screen over simple stuff like turning off helmet lights that give away your position when you are hunting people in the dark, to pondering what the point of all the “waves” were when the aliens were obviously advanced enough to conquer the planet in much easier fashion.
Speaking of the waves… the fifth one was the most anticlimactic and stupid one I could ever imagine even though I figured it out well before they revealed it. Chalk that up to a flimsy script with a transparent and cliche plot.
The only profound thing to be found in this film was the eerie parallel of how the aliens were going about the extermination of humanity to the way the First Nation was dealt with by foreign settlers. Was there a secret message imbedded here? Did the makers want to make that point? I don’t know…but I can say with confidence that most people probably missed this during the two hours of torture watching this film was.
Not even inserting Liev Schreiber as the dubious Colonel Vosch made this film worthwhile, although it’s always good to watch him…especially when he’s the bad guy.
This film was very hard to watch and actually saddened me because I very much wanted to like it, but there was very little about it that could be liked. In a situation like this, you really can;t blame the actors as a debacle like this stars with the script…which was the genesis for only soaking two (2) cinnamon sticks in my cup of tea.
Rating: 2 / 5
