I recently watched "The 5th Wave," and when I got through the first half of the movie, I wondered why it had gotten such poor reviews. But then I kept watching. The love interest, Evan, seems to be so random and underdeveloped that it was hard to root for the relationship because it seemed forced and unnecessary. Though this movie is more dystopian than science-fiction, the alien aspect gave rise to more sci-fi than most dystopian movies.
I don’t have a distaste for science-fiction. I enjoy some of the stories because they create new worlds that require imagination and also portray our fears as humans. But this particular movie seemed to neglect the human condition and focus on the ideals instead of reality.
Let’s start with Evan. He’s an alien who fell in love with a human. What’s new? Nothing. His love for Cassie is based on nothing but his attraction toward her. He rescued her and read her journal, and now he follows her to protect her. Maybe it’s just me, but I find that creepy, not romantic. He shows up at the opportune time to rescue Cassie, having that deus ex machina complex. His invincibility makes him unrelatable to us, so much so that his devoted love is not enough to keep us interested.
Cassie had a lot of potential as a character. She started out as a typical high school girl, and her circumstances quickly transformed her into an independent, protective fighter. She killed an innocent man in her first encounter, demonstrating her fallibility as a human. There was growth in her character, but it was cut short when she ran into her first big conflict, getting shot in the leg. From that point on, Evan conveniently fills all of her needs (and desires). What does this teach us about life’s challenges? That someone who is attractive will solve all of them.
There is a lot of unnecessary sexualization in this movie. Making Evan a younger man didn’t really line up with his life experience. He nursed her back to health, putting an IV in Cassie’s arm and wrapping bandages. This role could have been filled by an elderly man, and it would have been more moving than this incoherent love interest. His fighting is impressive too, but that they accredit to him being an alien.
That’s the thing with science-fiction these days; there are no restrictions. Humans obviously have limits, but when we do not portray that in our movies and characters, they become less relatable. The characters are becoming more idealized: good looking, successful, strong, etc. But how can we identify with someone like that who has no flaws?
Most fictional characters that we fall in love with and root for experience some kind of pain, so we are able to empathize with them. We journey with them through that pain and desire to heal, and we become invested in who they are because we too have experienced that pain in one area of our lives or another. We are looking to see if they overcome their battles, because we long for that hope in our own lives.
"The 5th Wave" failed to do that for me. The shallow love between Cassie and Evan was not strong enough and was not developed well. I was left feeling that the empathy I had for Cassie when her parents died was wasted, for she never overcame her own battles. Evan was a cop-out for her problems, and all of what she went through felt cheapened.
Ultimately, what I hoped for was that Cassie would become the hero by the end of it. That was how it was set up. But that wasn’t the case. I would have enjoyed it more if Evan had assisted her in her battles instead of fight all of them for her. That would have been more relatable to us. As we fight our own life’s battles, we need the support of good friends and family who don’t rob us of our growth through these trials, but strengthen us and empower us to win.
