MOVIE
REVIEW: DIVERGENT
03/20/2014
SYNOPSIS: In a future world where people are divided into distinct factions based on their personalities, Tris Prior is warned she is Divergent and will never fit into any one group. When she discovers a conspiracy to destroy all Divergents, she must find out what makes being Divergent so dangerous before it’s too late.
REVIEW: So
here's my take on it. It’s quite simple. If you liked 1997’s Gattaca or loved 2012’s The Hunger Games, then you will certainly fall in love with this latest film adaptation of the bestselling novel, by Veronica Roth. Divergent, directed by Neil Burger, has the capacity to be the “next big thing,” in terms of following the current trends of J.K. Rowlings (Harry Potter – series), the likes of the Twilight - series and Lord of the Rings, etc. In my humble opinion, this was so much so that I found myself constantly comparing Divergent to those aforementioned films with every twist and turn of the of the
The soundtrack and score complemented the movie exceedingly well and really brought the futuristic atmosphere of the movie, to life. The raw emotions displayed by Shailene Woodley (The Descendants, 2011), in a few key scenes (No spoilers here), were utterly touching and heartbreaking and serves to show the diversity of her craft. I can imagine viewers being extremely moved with her expressions and character traits.
She's just one of the many that allowed this flick to redeem its placement in the young adult genre, with great acting from an all-star cast amongst other great attributes.
In a recent interview, Burger did mention how they had shot many more scenes to be consistent with the novel, but as many did not fit right within the big scheme of things, many good pieces had not made the final cut. However, in my opinion, those missing scenes could be overlooked when compared to the amount of greatness in this film.
On a less positive note, the movie spends a little too much time setting up as a huge
franchise style flick throughout the entire hundred and forty minute runtime and not enough time on things like the creative renderings of the futuristic set and the eclectic characters that embodied the story. And at some point, I did feel as though the movie could potentially be a little daunting to those who have whole-heartedly embraced The Hunger Games franchise and could simply be rejected as a shallow, dull carbon copy movie that is attempting to capitalize on the young adult genre (Which seems to dominate Hollywood these days). Additionally, the ending of the movie might feel a little too rushed for most viewers and could leave some scratching their heads about what just went down. Nevertheless, those decisions could be viewed as very stylistic choices that may be the smarter approach, in the grand scheme of things. I do believe the movie will make up for its shortcomings in the series plotlines to come.
All in all, Divergent (the film) is very much on point, bringing realism to the storyline, but not overdoing with blood and gore. It certainly
wasn't a perfect flick, by any means (because no movie is, after all), but the positives here, undoubtedly outweighs the negatives and do I think the franchise will go places. Four and a half stars out of five is a good assessment and it is well worth the theater visit with popcorn.
Review
By Movi-Man Stan
MORE
MOVIE REVIEWS >>>