Which is better, the book or the movie? The age old argument is put to the test with the release of the movie, “The 5th Wave,” based on Rick Yancey’s bestselling novel. The plot involves Earth being attacked by aliens who seemingly want to take the planet for their own, and don’t want any humans with it. They attack in waves, hence the title, and readers soon find out that the aliens have taken over human bodies, leaving it impossible to tell friend from foe. This series does not contain too many science fiction elements, but if you are totally against aliens and Earth takeovers, then it probably is not the book or movie for you. Like most movies adapted for the big screen, the two are not all that similar. Read these and share your opinion at the trinityvoice.com.
Take the time to read the book:
There are obvious reasons that people prefer the book to the movie, including the ability to imagine characters when reading instead of having the characters created for you. One gripe I had with the movie was how it portrayed Cassie as a feisty party girl, instead of the young looking and slightly nerdy character in the book. But, my biggest fault with the movie was simply how rushed it felt.
I know it would be impossible to adapt a 500-page book into a two-hour movie, but there were major plot points that were barely mentioned or, in some cases, completely left out. One of the biggest plot switches was the romance between Cassie and Evan. In the book it’s slow and can be seen coming by readers, while in the movie it’s more sudden and forced. Part of the reason for the abruptness is because you do not get to see inside the characters’ minds, like you can in a book. This also takes away from one of my favorite parts of the book, the thought process that goes through Cassie’s head about Evan’s biggest flaw, one I cannot tell without spoiling key information. In the movie, this information is revealed in a scene not included in the book, and without reading the book beforehand, I’m not sure I would have been able to see it coming and make a guess as to what the outcome would be.
For anyone who likes to actually take the time to know the characters instead of just getting to see one or two sides of them, or in the case of “The 5th Wave” movie sometimes not even learning their name, I think the book is definitely the way to go.
Fully in favor of the new flick:
Although the movie began abruptly, I would say that it followed along with the book pretty nicely. Obviously, some parts are going to be left out of a two-hour movie that were put into a 500 page book, but the director was able to cut out some of the less important scenes in order to make the movie flow better.
Also, the movie was much less confusing than the book and followed all of the characters in chronological order as opposed to the book that was told in both Cassie’s and Ben’s points of view during each of the waves. This was sometimes a little confusing as to who was narrating at the moment. The movie was able to further explain and visualize certain parts that were harder to grasp while reading. This became evident for me while watching the movie when Cassie’s younger brother Sammy arrives at the Air Force camp along with many other children. Watching Sammy enter the camp and have his check up by the nurses really made it clear as to who was evil and who was not.
I wasn’t able to catch on to certain scenes in the book but as soon as I saw it in the movie, it was apparent what was happening. One aspect that I really liked about the movie was how you could actually see each wave happening in other people’s perspective in present time, but in the book you only read about it in Cassie’s point of view and it was written in the past. Seeing all of the waves and watching what happened to major cities was much more interesting as a visual, rather than just imagining what it was like in your head. “The 5th Wave” movie was a must-see on my list and was definitely easier to understand than the book with all of the visuals, but I do recommend reading the book before catching the movie.
