Contemplate this: You’re on a romantic getaway to Iceland with your love, and whilst there, you wake up to find that everyone on earth has disappeared, except for the two of you. What next?
Written/directed by Geoffrey Orthwein and Andrew Sullivan, plus starring Maika Monroe, Matt O’Leary and Arnar Jónsson, what Bokeh seems to be offering is a very intriguing sci-fi drama.
I’m drawn to this because somehow, I think I’ll learn something that will help me survive, should such a predicament come to pass in my lifetime. I’m also just very curious and keen to see how different this will be compared to the seemingly similar Z For Zacharaiah (2015).
For everyone wondering, the meaning of ‘bokeh’ is ‘the aesthetic quality of the blur produced in the out-of-focus parts of an image produced by a lens‘. It is not a town in Iceland, as my lousy geography and non-professional photographer status first led me to believe.
Starring Chloe Grace Moretz, The 5th Wave, a story about aliens trying to claim our planet as their own is a film that could have been so very good. But instead I found it boring, unsurprising and lazy.
My key issues with the movie lie in the script, editing, performances, story and general execution. It ended up feeling like a film that was rushed and made long before the story and script were ever properly ready.
Performance-wise I can’t really fault Liev Schreiber and a few others. Chloe Grace Moretz on the other hand… I’ve seen her in four movies so far. For two of those films I have zero complaints. But for the other two, one of which is The 5th Wave, I found her performance to be varying levels of unconvincing. To be fair, Moretz isn’t the only one that I feel didn’t adequately embody their character, but she is the key protagonist, hence my focus.
One unfortunate script/editing faux pas that sticks to mind happens towards the end, as three characters converse. One of them, let’s call him person A; he says, ‘My plan is to do such and such.’ All three people continue to talk amongst themselves for a minute. Person A then leaves. Within a few seconds, person B says to person C, ‘We better go, because I think person A is going to do such and such’. In my mind I’m thinking ‘Er… there should be no thinking he’s going to do it, because he just told you he’s going to do it, no?!
My disappointment had now peaked, but still, I calmed down enough to recognise that the main target market for The 5th Wave is clearly young adults and teenagers. in other words, not me. As such I wonder what they think about it all. What are their thoughts on the seemingly forced romance/ love triangle that unfortunately is just too much like The Hunger Games (2012)?
Mad is not how I’d feel if I were to find out that a sequel to The 5th Wave is not going to happen. Of course, that all depends on how much money this movie, however bad it may be, actually made.
Directed by J Blakeson and based on the book by Rick Yancey. The 5th Wave is a film you watch if you absolutely must. Otherwise, honestly, just enjoy the trailer instead.
Independence Day – Resurgence (2016), Jeff Goldblum, Liam Hemsworth
Directed by Roland Emmerich; starring Liam Hemsworth, Jeff Goldblum, William Fichtner, Bill pullman and Maika Monroe, the trailer for Independence Day – Resurgence has arrived.
When I watched the original Independence Day (1996) movie, the one about the fight against an alien invasion of earth, I vaguely recall a young Will Smith’s famous charisma going a long way to making the film worth dedicating two hours.
This time round, aliens are once again coming to invade and destroy planet. I wonder how the story will fair without a Smith-like comedic presence.
Fingers crossed that we’ll all be impressed by more than just the special effects.
Apocalyptic films are here to stay, people! Here comes one more starring Chloe Grace Moretz.
The 5th Wave is intriguing. However,I like Moretz best in the original Kick-Ass (2010) movie. I found her performance just ‘so, so’ inIfI Stay (2014). My fingers are crossed that The 5th Wave surprises me most pleasantly.
Live Schreiber, Maika Monroe, Ron Livingston, Maria Bello and Nick Robinson also star.
The Movie My Life 