The 5th Wave explores what might happen in a world of massive power outages, natural disasters and invasion. Although there is a general taste for post-apocalyptic novels and movies, The 5th Wave sets itself apart based on its perspective. It follows the Old Testament plague storyline of a population being attacked again and again by various deluges - a power grid failure, avian flu, a massive tsunami and even extraterrestrial body snatchers. In some fashion, we have experienced all of these things in our actual lives, and this is what makes The 5th Wave so poignant.
As aliens make their presence
on Earth know through these “waves” of attack, the story follows 16 year old
Cassie (Chloƫ Grace Moretz) on a race to rescue her younger brother (Zackary Arthur) from an alien-run training camp. In the first wave, all
electronics completely stopped working. The movie was perhaps ahead of its time
in showing how dependent everyone had become on technology. Humanity was
completely defenseless against the attacks - communication was shut down and no
one knew what to do without their machines.
In the second wave, steel beams
fall on the major fault lines around the world, followed by tsunamis that wiped
out about a quarter of the population around the world. The true horror of this
part of the movie occurs as people think back to the earthquakes that so easily
destroy even the most powerful and sturdy of human creations. The third wave
attacked the population on the cellular level. An avian flu overtook the world
in the same way that Ebola did and the current Zika
virus is. Although Ebola did not
have near the same effect that the avian flu had in the movie, the fear and
panic was undoubtedly similar.
Not only are blackouts a
constant worry and inconvenience, but hacking and EMP attacks have been
concerns of the government for years, especially now that our dependency
on machines has skyrocketed. The entire power grid could be dismantled by an
electromagnetic pulse from a high altitude nuclear bomb, terrorist hackers could easily disable the grid due to lack of upgrades and
safety regulations and let’s not forget how susceptible it is to major forces
of weather. But not only does The 5th Wave touch on technological
failure, climate change is brought front and center through natural disasters
with catastrophic results.
Although The 5th Wave presents a compelling and exciting take on a
dystopia, fans of the novel source material were slightly disappointed in it’s
adaptation. The movie had less detail than the source material; however, the
visuals and stellar performances from a talented cast definitely added a level
of immersion that the book simply could not have. While an overall entertaining
storyline and watch overall, if we really take the message of The 5th Wave
seriously, we all have some serious changes to make in our lives to avoid an
attack of our own!
Spencer John is a freelance entertainment, culture, and lifestyle blogger. He lives and works in Chicago. When not working he can be found camped out in his apartment watching the latest films and newest television shows.
Spencer John is a freelance entertainment, culture, and lifestyle blogger. He lives and works in Chicago. When not working he can be found camped out in his apartment watching the latest films and newest television shows.
