Mini Movie Reviews (The 5th Wave/Dirty Grandpa)

The 5th Wave (2016, USA)

Recommendation: Rent

Now, with this movie I was interested strictly from the trailer and my (guilty) fascination with Chloë Grace Moretz. While leading up to the release, I learned that this was another book adaptation and that meant...well, I'm not reading it. It's not a crime, so don't throw the book at me! (haha...get it?) Anyway, I just knew that really meant there would be a lot of tropes I had to expect. I must say that "The 5th Wave" delivered; it had a cool premise with a few predictable moments, but a fun execution.

Thus, I have got to let you know that if you don't mind the typical teen adaptations of today, there's nothing to really hate. The acting is pretty good, the action is as to be expected, and there's a decent story. I enjoyed that the main protagonist wasn't always in the forefront and wasn't suddenly BA, but there are still some "because protagonist" scenarios. Although this film has some sci-fi elements, it's very grounded, but keeps the usual theme of maintaining humanity. It ends like there could be a sequel, but time will tell if sales warrant one. I'd keep up with it, but probably not in theaters.

Dirty Grandpa (2016, USA)

Recommendation: Theaters w/ friends

Dirty Grandpa was one of those comedies I was on the fence about seeing. From every ad I saw, I knew it could be really bad or really hilarious. In my opinion, Zac Efron has been a lot of duds, but Robert De Niro tends to have better judgement when landing roles. That hope led me to seeing one outrageous and funny movie.

Like many college aimed comedies, there's a lot of crude and sexual humor as hinted by the title. The movie crams in so many absurd situations with a horny grandpa and great timing. It helps that De Niro led the comedy while Zac played straight man, because otherwise this may have been one of those duds. Yet outside of these co-stars, Adam Pally playing the idiot cousin & Aubrey Plaza as a senior hungry horndog made some memorable additions to a couple scenes. The show stealer to me would go to Jason Mantzoukas, though, since every part he's onscreen skyrockets the zaniness of the situation and he gets away with it, "because it's Florida!"

This is certainly a great movie to see with your friends as it will have you rolling with laughter throughout. The story hits a little on the message of making the most out of life no matter the age, and will curveball a few clichés along the way. Of course the ending you get is what you expect, but what takes you there might surprise you. On a side note, I wonder how this will carry over to Neighbors 2...