The 5th Wave

"If you were to count the number of book-to-screen young adult stories that dabble in doom-n-gloom-n-love-n-hope, then The 5th Wave is more like the 20th from the past decade. With The Hunger Games completed and both Maze Runner and Divergent midway through their sagas, this alien invasion tale needs to do a lot to stand out. Unfortunately, the only outstanding thing the film’s got is Chloë Moretz."

"Enough of Yancey’s ambitious narrative has made the final cut to reflect an arrestingly original spin on trendy genre tropes."

"It's depressing to see Ms. Moretz - so spirited in "Clouds of Sils Maria" and the "Kick-Ass" movies - reduced to constant mooning at Mr. Roe."

"Blakeson, who worked low-budget wonders on The Disappearance of Alice Creed, handles the shifts and twists of the plot efficiently enough, but the result remains lumpen and crucially lacking in surprise."

"Even at a brief 112 minutes, The 5th Wave is a long slog towards the credits."

"A movie that's as generic as it sounds, complete with a just-as-standard alien invasion plotline thrown in."

"Director J Blakeson... might be making franchise bait but he exhibits a relatively restrained reliance on spectacle..."

"Nothing essential going on here, really, but capable of supplying an effective escapist diversion for those who need it fast."

"Everything that comes after the confident, dangerous first half-hour just makes you pine for what could have been as this devolves into ten-a-penny teen-lit sludge."