Sam Sullivan (The 5th Wave)
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''The 5th Wave'' is a 2016 American
science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
action film The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as D ...
directed by
J Blakeson J Blakeson is an English film director and screenwriter. His first feature film was ''The Disappearance of Alice Creed'' (2009), a thriller starring Gemma Arterton, Martin Compston, and Eddie Marsan, which he wrote and directed. His most recent ...
from a screenplay by
Susannah Grant Susannah Grant (born January 4, 1963) is an American screenwriter, director, and producer. Early life Grant was born in New York City. She studied at Amherst College and attended the AFI Conservatory. She is also a Miss Porter's School alumna ...
,
Akiva Goldsman Akiva Goldsman (born July 7, 1962) is an American screenwriter, producer, and director. Goldsman's filmography as a screenwriter includes ''The Client (1994 film), The Client''; ''Batman Forever'' and its sequel ''Batman & Robin (film), Batman ...
and
Jeff Pinkner Jeff Pinkner (born November 16, 1964) is an American television and movie writer and producer. Early life and education Born to a Jewish family,Rick Yancey Richard Yancey is an American author who writes works of suspense Suspense is a state of anxiety or excitement caused by mysteriousness, uncertainty, doubt, or undecidedness. In a narrative work, suspense is the audience's excited antic ...
's 2013 novel of the same name. The film stars
Chloë Grace Moretz Chloë Grace Moretz (; born February 10, 1997) is an American actress. She began acting as a child, with early roles in the horror film ''The Amityville Horror (2005 film), The Amityville Horror'' (2005), the drama series ''Desperate Housewives' ...
, Nick Robinson,
Ron Livingston Ronald Joseph Livingston (born June 5, 1967) is an American actor. He is best known for playing Peter Gibbons in ''Office Space'' (1999) and Captain Lewis Nixon III in the miniseries ''Band of Brothers (miniseries), Band of Brothers'' (2001). Liv ...
,
Maggie Siff Maggie Siff (born June 21, 1974) is an American actress. Her most notable television roles have included department store heiress List of Mad Men characters#Rachel Menken, Rachel Menken Katz on the AMC (TV channel), AMC drama ''Mad Men'', Dr. Tar ...
, Alex Roe,
Maria Bello Maria Bello (born April 18, 1967) is an American actress and producer. Her first major film role was in 1998's '' Permanent Midnight''. She followed this with a range of supporting and leading parts in films such as '' Payback'' (1999), '' Coyot ...
,
Maika Monroe Maika Monroe (born Dillon Monroe Buckley; born May 29, 1993) is an American actress. She made her film debut with the drama '' At Any Price'' (2012), and led the thriller film '' The Guest'' and the horror film '' It Follows'' (both 2014), which ...
, and
Liev Schreiber Isaac Liev Schreiber ( ; born October 4, 1967) is an American actor. He has received numerous accolades including a Tony Award as well as nominations for nine Primetime Emmy Awards and five Golden Globe Awards. Schreiber's early film roles incl ...
. Development began in March 2012, when
Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...
picked up the film rights to the trilogy of novels, with
Graham King Graham King is an English film producer. He has been nominated four times for the Academy Award for Best Picture for producing the films '' The Aviator'' (2004), '' Hugo'' (2011), ''Bohemian Rhapsody'' (2018), and ''The Departed'' (2006); for ...
's production company
GK Films GK Films, LLC is a British-American film and television production company founded in 1990 by Graham King, located in Santa Monica, California. In 2005, the firm, which was known as Initial Entertainment Group at that time, signed a deal with W ...
and
Tobey Maguire Tobias Vincent Maguire (born 27 June 1975) is an American actor and film producer. He is best known for starring as Peter Parker (2002 film series character), Spider-Man in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man in film#Sam Raimi's trilogy, ''Spider-Man'' tr ...
's Material Pictures. Filming took place in
Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
, from October 2014 to January 2015. ''The 5th Wave'' was released in the United States on January 22, 2016 by
Sony Pictures Releasing Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group (formerly known as the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group until 2013, and abbreviated as SPMPG) is a division of Sony Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment to manage its motion picture operatio ...
. Despite negative reviews from critics, the film was moderately successful, grossing $109.9 million worldwide against a $38–54 million budget.


Plot

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...
high-schooler
Cassie Sullivan ''The 5th Wave'' is a trilogy of young adult post-apocalyptic sci-fi novels written by American author Rick Yancey. The series started in May 2013 with the first book, '' The 5th Wave''. A sequel titled '' The Infinite Sea'' was published in 2 ...
, armed with an
M4 carbine The M4 carbine (officially Carbine, Caliber 5.56 mm, M4) is a 5.56×45mm NATO assault rifle developed in the United States during the 1980s. It is a shortened version of the M16A2 assault rifle. The M4 is extensively used by the US mi ...
, emerges from the woods to raid an abandoned
gas station A filling station (also known as a gas station [] or petrol station []) is a facility that sells fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold are gasoline (or petrol) and diesel fuel. Fuel dispensers are used to ...
. Upon entering, she hears a voice calling for help. She finds a wounded man who points a gun at her, and then each of them asks the other to put their weapon down. When he pulls his other hand out from under his jacket, she mistakes the metallic glint of a
Christian cross The Christian cross, seen as representing the crucifixion of Jesus, is a religious symbol, symbol of Christianity. It is related to the crucifix, a cross that includes a ''corpus'' (a representation of Jesus' body, usually three-dimensional) a ...
for that of a gun, so she kills him: the screen then cuts to black, and her
backstory A backstory, background story, background, or legend is a set of events invented for a plot, preceding and leading up to that plot. In acting, it is the history of the character before the drama begins, and is created during the actor's prepara ...
begins. A colossal alien spaceship is circling Earth, guided by
extraterrestrial life Extraterrestrial life, or alien life (colloquially, aliens), is life that originates from another world rather than on Earth. No extraterrestrial life has yet been scientifically conclusively detected. Such life might range from simple forms ...
referred to as "the Others." Ten days later, The Others unleash their 'First Wave,' an
electromagnetic pulse An electromagnetic pulse (EMP), also referred to as a transient electromagnetic disturbance (TED), is a brief burst of electromagnetic energy. The origin of an EMP can be natural or artificial, and can occur as an electromagnetic field, as an ...
that disables all electrical power and communications worldwide and shuts off the engines of moving vehicles, including planes in mid-flight. The 'Second Wave' gives the Others power to manipulate the planet's
geology Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth ...
and
fault lines In geology, a fault is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock across which there has been significant displacement as a result of rock-mass movements. Large faults within Earth's crust result from the action of plate tectonic f ...
, causing
earthquakes An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they c ...
and
megatsunamis A megatsunami is an incredibly large wave created by a substantial and sudden displacement of material into a body of water. Megatsunamis have different features from ordinary tsunamis. Ordinary tsunamis are caused by underwater plate tectonics, ...
that destroy coastal cities and islands, including
Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
,
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
,
Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...
and
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
. In Ohio,
Lake Erie Lake Erie ( ) is the fourth-largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and also has the shortest avera ...
floods; Cassie and her younger brother Sam escape by climbing a tree. For the 'Third Wave,' the Others modify a strain of
avian influenza Avian influenza, also known as avian flu or bird flu, is a disease caused by the influenza A virus, which primarily affects birds but can sometimes affect mammals including humans. Wild aquatic birds are the primary host of the influenza A viru ...
and spread it across the planet via birds. The population is decimated, with Cassie's mother, Lisa, one of the victims. In the 'Fourth Wave,' the Others control humans and start killing other humans. Cassie, Sam, and their father, Thomas, find a summer camp in the woods that is used as a refuge for 300 survivors or so. A few days later, a
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...
unit with working vehicles rolls into the camp. The unit's commander, Colonel Alexander Vosch, claims there is an imminent threat of a 'Fourth Wave.' He states that the Army will take the children to safety at
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB) is a United States Air Force base and census-designated place just east of Dayton, Ohio, in Greene County, Ohio, Greene and Montgomery County, Ohio, Montgomery counties. It includes both Wright and Patte ...
, and will bring the buses back for the adults. Cassie is separated from Sam and witnesses the Army unit massacre all the adults, including Thomas. Cassie makes her way toward the base but is shot in the leg by a sniper and passes out. A week or so later, she wakes up in the farmhouse of a young man named Evan Walker, who tells her that he saved her life. Cassie leaves, heading towards the base with Evan; but she learns that he is an Other, sent years ago as a sleeper agent. He merged his
consciousness Consciousness, at its simplest, is awareness of a state or object, either internal to oneself or in one's external environment. However, its nature has led to millennia of analyses, explanations, and debate among philosophers, scientists, an ...
into a human host. The sleepers roam their designated zones, killing human survivors. Evan admits his humanity was reactivated when he saw her, and that he is not willing to cooperate with his training and the invasion; he lets her leave. He warns that Vosch and the military are possessed by the consciousness of individual Others. At the base, the military have used deception and technology to convince the rescued children that all humans outside the base have been possessed. They provide military training to the children, forming them into squads to go on killing missions outside the base. Sam has been placed into a squad led by Ben Parish, a boy Cassie had a crush on, along with Ringer, a tough teenage girl, Dumbo, a teenage boy who survived the 'Second Wave,' and Teacup. While on their kill mission, Ringer removes her military implant, causing her to register as an Other-possessed human on the squad's scopes. The squad deduces that the plan is to have them kill any non-possessed humans: i.e., they are the 'Fifth Wave.' Ben sends his squad into the woods and returns to base, claiming his squad was killed, in order to retrieve Sam, who was left behind. Ben confronts Vosch about child warriors being the 'Fifth Wave.' Cassie kills Sergeant Reznik during her one-on-one indoctrination. Ben and Cassie find each other and leave to find Sam. Evan sets off numerous bombs and advises them to find Sam before the destruction of the entire facility. Vosch and the surviving military Others evacuate with the human children by military aircraft. Cassie, Ben, and Sam escape, with help from Ringer, just as Evan completes the base's destruction. Ben's squad is reunited, and Cassie ponders the strength of hope as humanity's driving force for survival.


Cast


Production


Development

In March 2012,
Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...
picked up the film rights to the trilogy, with
Graham King Graham King is an English film producer. He has been nominated four times for the Academy Award for Best Picture for producing the films '' The Aviator'' (2004), '' Hugo'' (2011), ''Bohemian Rhapsody'' (2018), and ''The Departed'' (2006); for ...
and
Tobey Maguire Tobias Vincent Maguire (born 27 June 1975) is an American actor and film producer. He is best known for starring as Peter Parker (2002 film series character), Spider-Man in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man in film#Sam Raimi's trilogy, ''Spider-Man'' tr ...
attached as producers. On April 15, 2014, it was officially announced that
Chloë Grace Moretz Chloë Grace Moretz (; born February 10, 1997) is an American actress. She began acting as a child, with early roles in the horror film ''The Amityville Horror (2005 film), The Amityville Horror'' (2005), the drama series ''Desperate Housewives' ...
would star as Cassie Sullivan, and that
J Blakeson J Blakeson is an English film director and screenwriter. His first feature film was ''The Disappearance of Alice Creed'' (2009), a thriller starring Gemma Arterton, Martin Compston, and Eddie Marsan, which he wrote and directed. His most recent ...
would direct from a script by
Susannah Grant Susannah Grant (born January 4, 1963) is an American screenwriter, director, and producer. Early life Grant was born in New York City. She studied at Amherst College and attended the AFI Conservatory. She is also a Miss Porter's School alumna ...
. From June through August 2014, Nick Robinson and Alex Roe joined the film as male protagonists Ben Parish and Evan Walker, respectively, while
Liev Schreiber Isaac Liev Schreiber ( ; born October 4, 1967) is an American actor. He has received numerous accolades including a Tony Award as well as nominations for nine Primetime Emmy Awards and five Golden Globe Awards. Schreiber's early film roles incl ...
was cast as the villain. Over the following months,
Maika Monroe Maika Monroe (born Dillon Monroe Buckley; born May 29, 1993) is an American actress. She made her film debut with the drama '' At Any Price'' (2012), and led the thriller film '' The Guest'' and the horror film '' It Follows'' (both 2014), which ...
,
Zackary Arthur Zackary Arthur Herrera (born September 12, 2006) is an American actor, known for portraying the lead role of Jake Wheeler in ''Chucky (TV series), Chucky'', a television continuation of the Child's Play (franchise), ''Child's Play'' film franchise ...
,
Tony Revolori Anthony Revolori ( Quiñonez; born April 28, 1996) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his collaborations with Wes Anderson starring in ''The Grand Budapest Hotel'' (2014), ''The French Dispatch'' (2021), and ''Asteroid City' ...
,
Ron Livingston Ronald Joseph Livingston (born June 5, 1967) is an American actor. He is best known for playing Peter Gibbons in ''Office Space'' (1999) and Captain Lewis Nixon III in the miniseries ''Band of Brothers (miniseries), Band of Brothers'' (2001). Liv ...
,
Maggie Siff Maggie Siff (born June 21, 1974) is an American actress. Her most notable television roles have included department store heiress List of Mad Men characters#Rachel Menken, Rachel Menken Katz on the AMC (TV channel), AMC drama ''Mad Men'', Dr. Tar ...
, and Talitha Bateman joined the film.


Filming

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...
began on October 18, 2014, in
Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
,
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
. According to production designer Jon Billington, the production team scouted a number of cities but Atlanta was ultimately selected for its "visual diversity and interest". A total of $21.7 million was spent shooting in Georgia. 967 local crew members were hired to help with the production of the film, and they spent 17,843 man-days working on the film. Billington designed the various sets used throughout the movie around the Cassie and her story. He viewed the film as "Cassie's 'Odyssey'" and envisioned five "worlds" that she travels through linearly. A few scenes taking place in the forest were shot on the Jackson trail, outside of Winder, Georgia, US. Three months after production began, on January 11, a planned explosion of a bus in downtown
Macon, Georgia Macon ( ), officially Macon–Bibb County, is a consolidated city-county in Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. Situated near the Atlantic Seaboard fall line, fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is southeast of Atlanta and near the ...
, for the film went awry when it spread wider than planned, blowing out more than forty windows on Cotton Avenue, collapsing ceilings, destroying store fronts, setting one building on fire, and leaving soot on the brick buildings as well. The production company promised to cover all damages caused by the 3:45 am incident, but the work that was done was done badly and remained incomplete twenty-eight months later. Filming officially ended on January 17, 2015. Livett's Launches provided filming support for the scene showing the destruction of
Tower Bridge Tower Bridge is a Listed building#Grade I, Grade I listed combined Bascule bridge, bascule, Suspension bridge, suspension, and, until 1960, Cantilever bridge, cantilever bridge in London, built between 1886 and 1894, designed by Horace Jones ...
by a tsunami. In addition to London, Miami, Bangkok, Beijing, and New York can all be seen during the Second Wave as they are destroyed by a giant tsunami wave following the earthquake.


Music

In April 2015, it was announced that
Henry Jackman Henry Pryce Jackman (born 1 June 1974) is an English film and television music composer, music conductor and music arranger. He composed music for films such as '' Kong: Skull Island'', '' X-Men: First Class'', ''Puss in Boots'', ''Monsters vs ...
would compose the original soundtrack for the film. Notable songs by popular artists featured in the film include Sia,
Coldplay Coldplay are a British Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer and percussionist Will Champion, and manager Phil Harvey (band m ...
,
Pitbull Pit bull is an umbrella term for several types of dog believed to have descended from bull and terriers. In the United States, the term is usually considered to include the American Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, American B ...
,
Ne-Yo Shaffer Chimere Smith (born October 18, 1979), known professionally as Ne-Yo ( ), is an American singer and songwriter. Regarded as a leading figure of Contemporary R&B#2000s, 2000s R&B music, he is the recipient of numerous accolades, includi ...
,
Madeon Hugo Pierre Leclercq (; born 30 May 1994), better known by his stage name Madeon (), is a French musician, DJ, songwriter, singer and music producer from Nantes, based in Los Angeles. He initially came to widespread public attention at age 17 th ...
,
Passion Pit Passion Pit is an American indie pop band from Cambridge, Massachusetts. Formed in 2007, frontman and keyboardist Michael Angelakos is the band's primary recording member. As a touring act, the band currently consists of Angelakos (vocals, syn ...
, and
Mark Ronson Mark Daniel Ronson (born 4 September 1975) is a British-American DJ, record producer, and songwriter. He has won nine Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year for Amy Winehouse's album '' Back to Black'' (2006), as well as two for Record ...
. Part of the song '' Don't Panic'' by Coldplay can be heard when Ben and Sam sing it together in an attempt to lull Sam to sleep. '' Time of Our Lives'' by Pitbull ft. Ne-Yo, ''Pay No Mind'' by Madeon ft. Passion Pit, and ''Summer Breaking'' by Mark Ronson ft. Kevin Parker. can by heard during a house party flashback involving Cassie. '' Alive'' by Sia serves as the film's end credit song and was used in promotional material for the film.


Track listing


Release

Sony Pictures Entertainment Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio conglomerate that produces, acquires, and distributes filmed entertainment (theatrical motion pictures, television programs, and rec ...
originally set the film a release date for January 29, 2016. On April 30, 2015, the release date was changed from its original release date of January 29, 2016, to an earlier date of January 15, 2016. However, in December 2015, the release date was pushed back from January 15, 2016, to January 22, 2016. It was released on January 14, 2016, in Australia, Germany, and the Middle East.


Marketing and promotion

An international trailer for the film was released on Sony Pictures' official
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
account on September 1, 2015. Standard marketing techniques were used to promote the film such as movie posters, trailers, and TV advertising. The film also had several pages on social media including
Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...
,
Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
, and
Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...
. Lead actress Chloë Grace Moretz was featured on the cover of February 2016 issue of teenage lifestyle magazine
Marie Claire ''Marie Claire'' (stylized in all lowercase; ) is a French international monthly magazine first published in France in 1937. Since then various editions are published in many countries and languages. The feature editions focus on women aro ...
to promote the film. The film's actors were also featured in several interviews with various YouTube channels such as
IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...
and FilmisNow On May 3, 2016, it was announced via social media that the 5th Wave was available for purchase on Blu-Ray and Digital formats that same day. The film was released online on various video sites two weeks prior to this.


Reception


Box office

''The 5th Wave'' grossed $34.9 million in North America and $75 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $109.9 million, against a production budget of $54 million. The film was released in North America on January 22, 2016, alongside ''
Dirty Grandpa ''Dirty Grandpa'' is a 2016 American comedy film about a lawyer who drives his grandfather to Florida during spring break. The film was directed by Dan Mazer and written by John Phillips. It stars Robert De Niro and Zac Efron in the leading rol ...
'' and '' The Boy'', and was projected to gross $10–14 million from 2,908 theaters in its opening weekend. It made $475,000 from its Thursday night screenings and $3.5 million on its first day. It went on to gross $10.3 million in its opening weekend, finishing 6th at the box office.


Critical response

The
review aggregation A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...
website
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
reported that 17% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 143 reviews, with an average rating of 4.3/10. The site's critics consensus reads, "With unimpressive effects and plot points seemingly pieced together from previous dystopian
young adult In medicine and the social sciences, a young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence, sometimes with some overlap. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages ...
sci-fi films, ''The 5th Wave'' ends up feeling like more of a limp, derivative wriggle." On
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
, the film has a score of 33 out of 100 based on 30 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by
CinemaScore CinemaScore is an American market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts from the data. Background Ed Mintz, who ...
gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale. Jeffrey M. Anderson of ''
The San Francisco Examiner The ''San Francisco Examiner'' is a newspaper distributed in and around San Francisco, California, and has been published since 1863. Once self-dubbed the "Monarch of the Dailies" by then-owner William Randolph Hearst and the flagship of the H ...
'' said of the film, "Every plot turn and every line of dialogue has been borrowed from somewhere else, and everything is utterly, totally predictable", noting how the film "steals material from (but does not stop at) the ''
Twilight Twilight is daylight illumination produced by diffuse sky radiation when the Sun is below the horizon as sunlight from the upper atmosphere is scattered in a way that illuminates both the Earth's lower atmosphere and also the Earth's surf ...
'', ''
Hunger Games ''The Hunger Games'' are a series of young adult dystopian novels written by American author Suzanne Collins. The series consists of a trilogy that follows teenage protagonist Katniss Everdeen, and two prequels. ''The Hunger Games'' universe ...
'' and '' Divergent'' franchises."
Anthony Lane Anthony Lane is a British journalist who was a film critic for ''The New Yorker'' magazine from 1993 to 2024. Career Education and early career Lane attended Sherborne School, graduating with a degree in English from Trinity College, Cambrid ...
of ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...
'' faulted the film as a "marketing wheeze dressed up as an art form, and stupendously summarized by the image of Cassie hurrying through the woods carrying both an assault rifle and a
Teddy bear A teddy bear, or simply a teddy, is a stuffed toy in the form of a bear. The teddy bear was named by Morris Michtom after the 26th president of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt; it was developed apparently simultaneously in the first deca ...
", adding that the film "appears to have been designed by some crazed
Oedipal In classical psychoanalytic theory, the Oedipus complex is a son's sexual attitude towards his mother and concomitant hostility toward his father, first formed during the phallic stage of psychosexual development. A daughter's attitude of desire f ...
wing of the N.R.A." Rob Vaux of the Sci-Fi Movie Page gave the film one star out of five, saying, "The Young Adult adaptation craze hits a low point with this aimless, purposeless alien invasion story that wastes a fine cast." In the ''
San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...
'',
Mick LaSalle Mick LaSalle (born May 7, 1959) is an American film critic and the author of two books on pre-Code Hollywood. Up to March 2008, he had written more than 1,550 reviews for the ''San Francisco Chronicle'' and he has been podcasting them since Sep ...
wrote, "rarely does a movie that fails so utterly start so well", falling apart ahead of the fifth wave. As to a possible trilogy, "if we're not really vigilant, and look to the skies, and prepare, they're going to make at least two more of these things. We've got to beat back the invasion now". Eddie Cockrell of ''
Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' gave the film a mixed review, saying, "''The 5th Wave'' is an effectively decent post-apocalyptic, young adult, world-in-the-balance survival thriller" with an "arrestingly original spin on trendy genre tropes", although he suggested that fans of the book may have "issues with what has been edited". Brian Truitt of ''
USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...
'' gave the film a positive review, stating that it "is an inviting sci-fi invasion" and "nicely stokes the imagination of a new generation of science-fiction movie nerds". He praised Moretz and Robinson as "equally strong" co-leads. Shannon Harvey of ''
The West Australian ''The West Australian'' is the only locally edited daily newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia. It is owned by Seven West Media (SWM), as is the state's other major newspaper, ''The Sunday Times''. It is the second-oldest continuousl ...
'' also gave the film a positive review, writing, "It's actually got a lot going for it, from acting prodigy Chloe Grace Moretz as the kind of tough but fragile heroine you can cheer for to handsome production values, several plot twists". Michael Patterson of ''
Moviepilot Moviepilot (stylized Movie Pilot) was a fan-centric online magazine covering the film industry. Its content was written predominantly by an in-house team of staff writers, with additional articles from contributors known as Creators. History Mo ...
'' gave the film a positive review, calling it a "thrilling story of survival". Author of ''The 5th Wave'' Rick Yancy was heavily involved with the film's production from the beginning and seemed to be pleased with the final product saying "The filmmakers were very cognizant of the fact that what really sets the story apart is the heart of it". He believed that fans of the book would be "... pleased with how the filmmakers have captured the characters and story".


Accolades


See also

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