The 5th Wave

 Released Year: 2016

Directed by J Blakeson

Casted by:

Chloë Grace Moretz as Cassie Sullivan

Nick Robinson as Ben Parish / Zombie

Alex Roe as Evan Walker

Liev Schreiber as Colonel Vosch

Maika Monroe as Ringer

Zackary Arthur as Sammy Sullivan

Ron Livingston as Oliver Sullivan

Maggie Siff as Lisa Sullivan

Maria Bello as Sergeant Reznik

 Story: 

The 5th Wave follows 16-year-old Cassie Sullivan as she tries to survive in a world devastated by the waves of alien invasion that have already devastated the Earth's population and knocked humankind back to the Stone Age. As one of the planet's last survivors after her father was killed in a massacre by the army, Cassie has to learn the hard way to trust no one. The only thing that keeps Cassie going is the hope that she can save her 5-year-old brother, Sam, from a "training" camp established by the Others (the aliens). Cassie and Ben Parish, who was her crush in school, narrate a good majority of the story, along with several supporting characters who offer different perspectives. The Waves were planned attacks used by the Others in their attempt to take over planet Earth, but the reason for their desire to inhabit the planet is much deeper than that and has a lot to do with humanity itself.

 L² Scored: 6/10

L² Comment:

Before I watch this movie, a lot of friend told me the movie is not as good as the trailer. But for me, a guy who did not watch the trailer, I found that this movie is not as bad as what people say... Its something like "28 weeks later" + "Hunger game" + "Zombie land" kinda feel for me...

The movie is based on Rick Yancey's eponymous novel in 2013. From the ending of this movie, its not difficult to guess that there will be a sequence coming soon. But hopefully the negative feedback will not cause this series of movie to be die half way...

First Wave: Lights Out: During the first wave the Others release an EMP wave that takes out all electronics/lights/technology and kills half a million people by shorting out all moving vehicles, including planes in mid-flight.

Second wave: Surf's Up: The Others, realizing that roughly 40 percent of Earth's population lives within 60 miles (97 km) of coastline, drop enormous rods "twice as tall as the Empire State Building and three times as heavy" (45) onto the Earth's fault lines, causing massive tsunamis that wipe out three billion people.

Third wave: Pestilence: the Others launch a scheme to infect as many remaining survivors as possible with a deadly virus. Using the Earth's birds as carriers (via falling excrement) the plague claims 97 percent of remaining survivors. The virus, which resembles an advanced form of Ebola, causes victims to slowly bleed to death until eventually "you've become a viral bomb. And when you explode, you blast everyone around you with the virus" (46).

Fourth wave: Silencers: After the 3rd wave the remaining human population tries desperately to survive off whatever resources remain by looting, all the while clinging to the hope that "the people in charge", wherever they may be, are working toward a solution. Eventually this belief seems legitimate when an impressive battalion of soldiers (with functioning vehicles) arrives at the makeshift camp where Cassie, Sam and her father are staying. The soldiers and commander, however, only appear interested in the children and promptly load them onto waiting buses before ordering all the adults into the camp barracks. Once the humans are surrounded, Commander Vosch orders a massacre and kills everyone at the camp. Cassie, however, narrowly escapes and witnesses her father's death by Vosch's hand. At this moment the 4th wave becomes clear: not all humans are actually humans.

Fifth wave: The children captured during the 4th wave are taken to the Others' primary Earth military compound and are desocialized and then resocialized to execute one goal: kill the remaining human population. This is accomplished through a rigorous boot camp in which children, some as young as five years old, are issued weapons and are expected to follow orders given by commanding officers (whom the children have no idea are not human). During boot camp the Others convince the children that the "aliens" have taken over human bodies and it is paramount that they (the children) eradicate them. In essence, the captured children are the 5th wave.

Jurassic World

 Released Year: 2015

Directed by Colin Trevorrow

Casted by:

Chris Pratt as Owen Grady

Bryce Dallas Howard as Claire Dearing

Nick Robinson as Zach Mitchell

Ty Simpkins as Gray Mitchell

Vincent D'Onofrio as Vic Hoskins

Irrfan Khan as Simon Masran

 Story: 

Twenty-two years after the events of Jurassic Park, InGen has opened a fully functional replacement called "Jurassic World" on Isla Nublar. Brothers Zach and Gray Mitchell are sent to visit their aunt, Claire Dearing, the park's operations manager. Claire's assistant Zara is their guide, as Claire is too busy recruiting more corporate sponsors with bigger dinosaur attractions to maintain the park's attendance. To that purpose, InGen's geneticists have created a new genetically-modified dinosaur called Indominus rex made from DNA of several predatory dinosaurs, as well as modern-day animals like cuttlefish and tree frogs. Dr. Henry Wu, the park's chief geneticist, keeps the exact combination a secret. Simon Masrani, the park's owner, wants Velociraptor trainer and researcher, Owen Grady, to review the Indominus‍ '​ enclosure before the exhibit opens to the public. Owen and Claire, who dated one time but clashed over Claire's controlling nature and Owen's irreverent personality, inspect the exhibit together. Owen warns Claire that the Indominus is extremely dangerous because it has never been socialized to other dinosaurs.

Vic Hoskins, head of InGen security, believes the park's four velociraptors can be trained for military use, but Owen argues that his being the raptors' alpha does not mean they are tamed or controllable. At the Indominus enclosure, Owen and Claire discover that the Indominus has seemingly scaled the wall and escaped. Owen and two other staff enter the enclosure, but the Indominus ambushes them, having faked its escape. It kills both staff before escaping into the jungle, though Owen survives.

Masrani sends armed security to capture the Indominus, but after it kills most of the team, Claire orders an evacuation. Meanwhile, Gray and Zach, having sneaked away to explore on their own, ignore the evacuation order and wander into a forested area in a gyrosphere. The Indominus attacks and destroys the vehicle, but the boys survive. Traveling on foot, they find the ruins of the original Jurassic Park Visitor Center. After repairing an old Jeep, they drive back to the main park. Owen and Claire, searching for them, trail the boys back to the park after barely surviving the Indominus themselves. The Indominus continues its rampage, killing several Apatosaurus and smashing into the park's pterosaur aviary. Masrani and two soldiers hunt the Indominus in a helicopter, but escaped pterosaurs attack it, resulting in it crashing, killing everyone aboard. Gray and Zach arrive at the main park as the pterosaurs begin attacking the visitors, killing Zara in the mayhem. Owen and Claire find Gray and Zach, while armed troops subdue the pterosaurs.

Hoskins assumes command and decides to use the velociraptors to track and kill the Indominus; Owen reluctantly agrees with the plan. The velociraptors follow the Indominus‍ '​ scent into the jungle, and Owen and several InGen soldiers launch an attack. However, because Indominus has raptor DNA, it can communicate with the velociraptors, and turns them against the soldiers. Owen rekindles his bond with one, but soldiers kill it. Meanwhile, Hoskins has Dr. Wu helicoptered off the island with dinosaur embryos, protecting his research. Owen, Claire, Zach, and Gray find Hoskins in the lab packing up the remaining dinosaur embryos. As Hoskins reveals he had intended all along to create genetically-modified dinosaurian super-weapons, he is killed by a raptor.

Owen leads Claire, Zach, and Gray outside, where the other raptors confront them. Owen reestablishes his bond with them before the Indominus appears. The raptors align with Owen and attack the Indominus, resulting in them being killed. Knowing they are outmatched, Claire lures the park's veteran Tyrannosaurus rex into a fight with the Indominus. The T. rex is overpowered until the reappearance of the lone surviving raptor, "Blue". The two dinosaurs force the overwhelmed Indominus towards the lagoon, where the resident Mosasaurus drags it underwater. The T. rex departs, with Blue following. The next day, the survivors are evacuated to Costa Rica. Zach and Gray are reunited with their parents while Owen and Claire decide to stay together.

 L² Scored: 8.5/10

L² Comment:

After 14 years, finally Jurassic is back on blockbuster! The first 2 movies were directed by Stephen Spielberg which has mark the standard so high and cause the 3rd movie to slight down when it was directed by Joe Johnston during 2001. As for Colin Trevorrow, I'm not sure about his work, but he makes a quite impressive on this film.

This time, the scientist came out a new species of dinosaur which is so powerful that the brain is so much better than the rest. Of course, the worst part would be what has been discussed wildly on the internet now, is the high heel that Bryce Dallas Howard wore to run in the whole movie~ Another funny thing is during the end, when the "original species" of dino joint venture to attack the indominus rex and how the main actor can control the raptors as well~