SYNOPSIS: After the earth-shattering revelations of INSURGENT, Tris must escape with Four and go beyond the wall enclosing Chicago. For the first time ever, they will leave the only city and family they have ever known. Once outside, old discoveries are quickly rendered meaningless with the revelation of shocking new truths. Tris and Four must quickly decide who they can trust as a ruthless battle ignites beyond the walls of Chicago which threatens all of humanity. In order to survive, Tris will be forced to make impossible choices about courage, allegiance, sacrifice and love.

REVIEW: If you’re a fan of dystopian action flicks with an underlying current of teen romance, then no doubt you’ve probably heard of or watched some part of The Divergent Series that are based on the bestselling books by Veronica Roth. Expectedly, the movie adaption to The Divergent Series is almost complete with this latest installment being followed by part two aptly named Divergent: Ascendant slated to be released in 2017.

First off, with the loss of Kate Winslet playing the Jeanine character in 2015’s Divergent: Insurgent (and its predecessor), we have the introduction of Jeff Daniels (The Martian, 2015) who plays David; the Director of the Bureau of Genetic Welfare. This, in my humble opinion, is an excellent choice in casting. He’s not only a bizarre, whimsical and eclectic actor, but is also a wide-ranging and super-serious performer and definitely nails the role of the Bureau’s Director in every aspect. As well, it’s nice to see some new faces and settings, compared to the previous releases where the characters and locations have been pretty much similar and familiar.

In addition, the CGI and special effects of this futuristic world is superb and is pretty impressive on many levels. This especially becomes front and center on the cinematics, when the old crew (Dauntless) travels beyond the wall for the first time, where there is a new-found sense of wonder and exploration to be had by die-hard fans of the franchise. Needless to say, this is a good thing considering it was getting a bit daunting (no pun intended) looking at the same old dilapidated and destroyed version of the future Chicago skyline. This is contrasted by striking views of the unknown areas (basically the rest of the world’s landscapes), being reminiscent of Mars, with vast craters and desolate reddish colored vistas.

If there is anything negative worth mentioning about this Divergent: Allegiant, part 1, it would have to be that it was, a bit disappointing to not have a great soundtrack accompanying the beautiful cinematography. So what we ended up with was more of a lackluster musical interference that never really complimented the feel and eminence of the scenes.

Nonetheless, when it comes right down to it the pros here completely outweigh the cons for this latest Veronica Roth franchise effort and is certainly something that is definitely recommended for those who are looking for or are in the mood for a good action/adventure/Sci-Fi flick this weekend. Four out of five stars are well deserved here and are well worth the theater tickets with popcorn in tow.