THE 5TH WAVE | FAMILY MOVIE REVIEW INFORMATION FOR PARENTS AND KIDS

"THE 5TH WAVE"
(2016) (Chloe Grace Moretz, Nick Robinson) (PG-13)

QUICK TAKE:: Sci-Fi: A teenager and others must contend with an extraterrestrial invasion of Earth.

PLOT:

Cassie Sullivan (CHLOE GRACE MORETZ) is a normal high school teenager who lives with her parents, Oliver (RON LIVINGSTON) and Lisa (MAGGIE SIFF), along with her younger brother, Sam (ZACKARY ARTHUR), in an Ohio suburb. Her biggest concern is some guy not showing up at a high school party, but that's quickly overshadowed one day when massive extraterrestrial ships arrive on Earth, seemingly intent on wiping out all of humanity. That begins with a first wave of electromagnetic pulses that kill all power and anything with an engine. A second wave of massive flooding kills millions, and that's followed by a pandemic that wipes out most of the rest.

Cassie, Sam and their dad end up in a refugee camp that soon sees the arrival of the U.S. Army lead by Col. Vosch (LIEV SCHREIBER). He informs them that the next wave is coming, and that all of the kids should be driven to the local military base for testing, as it seems the aliens have now started inhabiting humans and thus could be among any of them. What they're really doing, however, is creating a kid army, run by Sgt. Reznik (MARIA BELLO), to battle those infected humans. Among them is Cassie's former high school classmate, Ben "Zombie" Parish (NICK ROBINSON), along with the likes of Teacup (TALITHA BATEMAN), Oompa (CADE CANON BALL), Flintstone (ALEX MacNICOLL), Poundcake (NADJI JETER), Tank (FLYNN McHOUGH) and Ringer (MAIKA MONROE), a tough girl who can easily handle her own and clashes with Ben, their troop's appointed leader.

Cassie, however, isn't among them, having missed the bus, and thus strikes out on her own following a massacre. She ends up shot but then tended to by Evan Walker (ALEX ROE), a young man who's also lost his family and offers to help Cassie make her way to the military base in hopes of finding Sam. As they do so, they must contend with various perils along the way, all while the kids at the camp are trained and then sent out into combat.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?: If they're fans of the young adult, science fiction novel on which this is based, other films of that ilk, and/or anyone in the cast, they might show some interest.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG-13: For violence and destruction, some sci-fi thematic elements, language and brief teen partying.

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