Movie Review - The 5th Wave

The 5th Wave

Starring: Chloë Grace Moretz, Nick Robinson, Alex Roe, Ron Livingston, Zachary Arthur, Maika Monroe,  Liev Schreiber, Maria Bello, Gabriela Lopez, Matthew Zuck, and more.

Directed by: J Blakeson Screenplay by: Susannah Grant, Akiva Goldsman, Jeff Pinker Based on the Novel by: Rick Yancey Cinematography by: Enrique Chediak Music by: Henry Jackman

Premise: The Earth is attacked by an unknown and unseen alien species. Their attacks have come in the form of waves - world spanning EMP fields, mutated virus, floods, drones. A fifth wave is eminent, but no one knows the form it will take. Separated from her little brother Sam, Cassie struggles to make her way to him, even as unbeknownst to her, Sam and many other human children are being trained to fight. But more is going on than any of them realize. (Rated PG-13)

Review:

1) Acting - Total Thumbs Up: Chloë Grace Moretz does a lovely job as Cassie Sullivan. Watching her transition from normal high school girl to determined survivor was fun to watch. Nick Robinson as Ben Parish/Zombie also did a nice job. Loved his understated demeanor making the 'zombie' nickname have more than one level of meaning. Alex Roe will definitely make teenage girls swoon as the helpful yet mysterious Evan Walker. I totally loved Maika Monroe's performance! Her character Ringer was a lot of fun.

2) Special Effects - Total Thumbs Up: The film has special effects in bursts, so you'll tend to forget how much there's actually has in it. Which would be a crime as they do a great job. I absolutely loved the main alien ship, especially when seen at night. Really would have liked to have gotten a closer look at one of the scout drones. The visuals on the infected humans were enticingly creepy.

The effects for the water attack were phenomenal. The tidal waves and back panned destruction came out great. I was especially impressed with the added touch of the woman in the stairwell. And the view Poundcake sees of the flooded city from the top the building really brought home the devastation.

Late in the film we get a lot of explosions and other forms of chaos. Nice!


3) Plot/Story - Thumbs Up: I've not read the novel this film is based on, so can't say much as to how close it matches the book. I will say, however, that all the teenagers in the audience seemed quite happy with it - at least all the Evan Walker parts. :P

There are a few bits that might give you a 'huh' feeling as the film progresses - most of these are actually hints rather than mistakes. I won't go into it, though, for fear of spoiling things for you guys. But I will say if it smells, there's likely a reason. :P

That being said, however, the plot does have a lot of the typical young adult book tropes (love triangle, good alien, etc.). Happily though, there was also the occasional surprise here and there.

One thing the film does suffer for, however, is the lack of a real reason/need for the aliens to take some of the steps they decide to take for the invasion. Showing off their ship for ten days before actually doing anything being but one of them. For creatures that seemingly don't believe in feelings, they sure like posturing and tormenting their targets. With their technology and what they already shown they can do, some of the steps they decide on later don't make any real sense as a next step.

4) Stunts - Total Thumbs Up: The stunt peeps did some great work. Some great people/tidal waves stunt moments. There's also a couple of hand-to-hand fight scenes and gun battles.

5) Costuming/Makeup - Thumbs Up: I was worried for a while that even the apocalypse wouldn't mess up Cassie's hair, but they made up for it later. Great touch having Cassie's hair look longer and less styled once she's out on her own. They even put some dirt on her! :) And kudos for not having her running around in heels!

Conclusion: The 5th Wave has some lovely special effects and good acting. Plot could have been a little more diverse, but wasn't bad. Watching Evan Walker fight is a definite highlight (the lake scene was pretty darn nice as well - for the ladies!) :P

Rating: 3.25 out of 5 (Hubby's Rating: Worth Full Price of Admission)

Movie Review - Ender's Game

Ender's Game

Starring: Asa Butterfield, Harrison Ford, Hailee Steinfeld, Abigail Breslin, Ben Kingsley, Viola Davis, Aramis Knight, Suraj Partha, Moises Arias, Khylin Rhambo, Jimmy Pinchak, Nonso Anozie, and more.

Directed by: Gavin Hood Screenplay by: Gavin Hood Based on the Novel by: Orson Scott Card Cinematography by: Donald McAlpine Original Music by: Steve Jablonsky

Premise: After passing an unexpected final test at school, Ender, the youngest in a family of five, is invited to join the International Fleet's battle academy. The academy exist for the sole purpose of creating a great general to lead Earth against the alien adversaries who almost destroyed them seventy years prior. Colonel Graff believes Ender will be the one they're looking for. But can Ender learn the skills necessary before it's too late for mankind? (Rated PG-13)

Review:

1) Acting - Total Thumbs Up: Asa Butterfield did amazing work in his role as Ender Wiggin. The strength and brilliance of the character are easy to see, as are Ender's doubts and fears. Some really nice performances too by all the young actors involved. Harrison Ford was a great choice to play Colonel Graff. And Ford was in the film a lot more than I anticipated, which was awesome. The choice of Viola Davis to play Major Gwen Anderson not only complemented Ford's acting but also proved the perfect foil for the Colonel as Ender moves up the ranks. I also loved the work by Nonso Anozie. This is the second feature I've seen him in, and he plays his parts so very well.

2) Special Effects - Total Thumbs Up: Because of the awesome efforts of the special effects team and others, this is definitely one of those films that must be seen in IMAX if at all possible. The cool Formic mother ships and the giant swarms of fighters as well as the Earth's fleets and its own ships made for some interesting fighting scenes. Even better were the changing points of view over the entire system as Ender shifted the virtual screen's direction how ever he needed them, calling for closeups, side angles, and more.

The Formic's home planet as well as the changed planet with the human base looked great - though I will say the whole jagged landscape for alien worlds is starting to get way overused recently. But it did look wonderful...

Totally loved the cool Zero G battle area. And the work on the Mind Game and the Formic themselves looked incredible. And wait until you see the cool people and fighter formations. Nice!

3) Plot/Story - Total Thumbs Up: I read the book "Ender's Game" back when it first came out in 1985, so I remember little about it. However, this worked in my favor, as I had no expectations and also couldn't anticipate key points, and was therefore surprised by several turning points in the film.

A number of themes run the length of the movie - the precarious decisions when trying to balance our actions between peace and violence, fear winning over reason, nothing is strictly black or white, always question everything, and others. I loved how several of these only become clear later in the film and not when they're actually presented. Like Ender, the audience must make what they can with the information given, even when we realize some is being withheld.

4) Stunts - Total Thumbs Up: There are a number of fights in the film, and not all of them during training. But regardless of the type, they were expertly done. The mock battles in the Zero G chamber had great timing, were ingenious, and the kids made it all look so easy. The non sanctioned fights had a beauty and intensity all their own.

5) Locations/Cinematography - Total Thumbs Up: The special effects were outstanding, and so was the cinematography. Just watching the shuttle depart from the basin between an amazing set of mountains took my breath away. And the sweeping views of the academy with Earth in the background, as well as all the views on the different planets that were visited made the extra ticket price for IMAX totally worth it. The space shots in the meteor belt, during Ender's travel to the final training camp, and others were beautifully done.

Conclusion: "Ender's Game" is most definitely worth seeing. The awesome graphics, cinematography, special effects, and acting, make it one of the better films of 2013. If you can manage it, definitely see it in IMAX. The extra detail is totally worth it.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 (Hubby's Rating: Worth Full Price to See Again)

(Two awesome SF flicks in the same year - who knew? And about time! Yeah!)

Movie Review - The Host

The Host

Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Diane Kruger, Max Irons, Jake Abel, Chandler Canterbury, William Hurt, Scott Lawrence, Frances Fisher, and more.

Directed by: Andrew Niccol Screenplay by: Andrew Niccol Based on the Novel by: Stephenie Meyer Cinematography by: Roberto Schaefer Original Music by: Antonio Pinto

Premise: Earth has been taken over by an alien race that uses human bodies as hosts. Rather than be taken by them, Melanie Stryder attempts to take her own life by jumping out a window. The Seeker who watched her do this decides Melanie would make an excellent host. The Seeker's goal is to use Melanie's memories to hunt down the few remnants of unpossessed humans left. But Melanie's will is even stronger than anyone anticipated. Rather than be destroyed or totally subverted within her own body, Melanie is aware and fights against the alien inside her, hoping to somehow figure out a way to get back to those she loves. (Rated PG-13)

Review:  

1) Acting - Total Thumbs Up: Saoirse Ronan did a spectacular job playing the Wanderer, and the imprisoned Melanie inside her. Saoirse gave each of the two beings unique voices and personalities so it was easy to believe she had two people taking residence inside the same body. Diane Kruger was outstanding as the dogged Seeker trying to find the Wanderer(Wanda)/Melanie no matter the cost. Max Irons and Jake Abel also gave good performances, easily showing the conflict each had for how they viewed and felt about Wanda/Melanie.

2) Special Effects - Total Thumbs Up: I loved how the aliens looked - semi-energy beings with ganglia - it was a great effect. There are two emotional automobile crash scenes that got stitched to the film so well they looked eerily realistic in the damage to the cars and to the people inside them. The glow worm cave was fantastic - you could honestly think you were looking into a picture of a gaseous and star seeded section of space. The alien 'spaceport' was utterly fascinating. I also think the special effects department did a great job with the mirror banks used to reflect light to grow plants inside the caves. The wheat field itself also looked amazing.

They did a great job too on Jamie's festered wound (looked so nasty!) and the healing sequences for both Melanie and Jamie. You could almost see Jamie's cut weaving itself back together. Nice!

3) Plot/Story - Thumbs Up: I haven't read the novel the movie is based on, so I can't make any comments on how it translated to film. I will say that as long as you don't question how Earth came to be in its current state or what technology should have been available to the aliens with which to find a few pesky humans, the movie's plot works pretty well.

Though you can piece together some of the alien's social structure, it would have helped the film if they'd delved into it a bit more than they did. A greater understanding of this seemingly super stratified system (as implied by the use of occupation titles) would have helped viewers understand why some of the 'Souls' had not been bothered by their antagonistic way of life before. (Where their technology came from or how they were able to take over the first human, especially after seeing that the standard transfer process couldn't be done without help would have also helped plug some of the huge holes in the nonexistent back story.) Baring that, however, the film did do a great job bringing up all sorts of issues to both sides, and not 'sugar coating' most of them. The voice-over technique for Melanie's trapped self worked really well for imparting her thoughts to the audience.

And typical of a lot of young adult books, there are multiple love interests for the heroine. Except this time there was a nice twist - there are two heroines in one body, and they both like different guys. This made for some quite poignant and also funny moments. Jamie's infected wound, sadly, seemed somewhat contrived.

5) Locations/Cinematography - Total Thumbs Up: My inner geek screamed the first time we got the gorgeous spanning view of the desert area where the humans kept their hiding place (Worm Sign! Worm Sign! ("Dune")), something which will sadly not occur to most of the young people watching the film. I totally loved the cave chosen for their hideout. (The wheat field made me think of those built inside mountains or underground in the PC game "Mine Craft".)

While a lot of places looked normal, they did do one caveat to how the aliens had changed the planet by the giant, plain store called The Store. Their simplistic labels and naming of things was a nice touch too.

6) Costuming/Makeup - Total Thumbs Up: The costumes for the Seekers in their startling white worked very well. The shoes were not, but I am giving credit to that 'faux pas' to the aliens themselves. The ways the eyes looked on all who had aliens inside them worked really well and had just the right touch of creepy to it. There was good consistency too on wounds and natural healing.

Conclusion: If you ignore the science and technique of how the Souls took over the world, the film was well paced, thought provoking, and even quite humorous. Hubby said it would make a great date movie as it has a mix of romance, shootings, and car chases to give both sides what they like.

Rating: 4 out of 5 (Hubby's Rating: Worth Full Price of Admission)