*WARNING* I have not read the book this movie is based off of. I am writing this review solely based off of my opinion on the movie itself. Realize that my views expressed here are not a reflection of anything other than the movie itself. If you like the book I am not saying anything positive or negative about that.
I didn't mind the story line. As I watched the previews for this movie I thought that I would hate it because Summit has been on a real "teenagers in love, while more important stuff is going on" kick; but it turns out that I actually liked it. I just wish there was more to it. I feel this movie would have done better if it were split into two parts or a trilogy. I like the factions, I just wish there was more history to them. I like the post apocalyptic setting, I just wish I knew more about what led them to war in the first place. The story line has a nice premise, but falls a little short in the delivery. I am a guy that looks for detail in my story. Why are these people in this post apocalyptic setting? I expect the answer to be more than "war." Why does this faction hate the other? I expect the answer to be more than "they just don't like the leadership." I was waiting for some real rivalry between the factions. Faction X doesn't like faction Y because of Z. Some sort of deep rooted discourse, like Boston not liking New York (and vice versa). I didn't like that my hand was being held through a character driven story line I had no interest in knowing. I kind of felt like a little kid in a mall with his mother. I really wanted to go to Toys R' Us, but mom is making me go to Marshall's. "But Mr. Burgerrrr! I don't care about Beatrice having a hard time in Dauntless, I want to know more about the world that surrounds her character. I promise I will care more about her after I have gotten my fill."
The real problem here were the characters. We got treated to knowing a lot about Beatrice and Four, but next to nothing about her supporting characters. I want to know why her brother chose the faction he did. I want to know more about her parents, and why they made the choices they did. I want to know more about her friends (that also didn't start out in Dauntless). Why is Christina a part of Dauntless? Did she not like Candor? Are all people from Peter's district as much of a dick as he is? The lack of character building is really shown when people start dying (YES PEOPLE DIE IN THIS MOVIE, BUT I DIDN'T SAY WHO SO NO SPOILER WARNING!), you get the sense that you should be attached to these people, but you just aren't and it is awkward.
Another big problem I have was the acting. Unfortunately, we are saddled with two actors that don't seem to know that their faces can do anything besides "deep in thought glance" as the main leads. I liked Shailene Woodley in "The Descendants," and feel that she could be a great actor; but here she just looks like another face soon to be forgotten. The only experience I have with Theo James is "Underworld: Awakening" and now that he has followed up that bad movie with this poor performance I can't think of redemption for him. Every other actor in this performed well, but had such limited screen time/purpose that it didn't make a difference in the end.
This movie seems to have fallen into a classic mistake that looms over most movies based off of books. You have to read the book, for it to resonate with you on some level, but I feel that if I did read the book that I would probably be in some sort of nerd rage right now (and I really have enough venues that cause me nerd rage, Star Wars, Star Trek, PERCY JACKSON). As I stated, I have never read the book, but I still feel like I would have been treated to more detail had I read it. I guess the only positive thing I can say about this movie is that it made me want to read the book.
Final Verdict: Pirate it When thinking of going to see this movie think about "The Purge." You were probably as excited as I was for the premise (No rules for 12 hours), but when you got there it turned out to just be a poor excuse for a slasher film.
Didn't read the book and it was still bad enough
Divergent follows the character Beatrice "Tris" Prior, in a post apocalyptic society where the citizens are placed in to one of five groups based upon their predispositions. Abriegation; for the selfless (government), Amity; for the peaceful/kind (workers), Candor; for the honest (justice department), Dauntless for the brave (soldiers or police), and Erudite for the Intelligent (scientists). Each year the younger citizens must take an aptitude test in order to figure out where they belong, then must make their choice based on where they feel they are best suited (keeping the results of the test in mind). Beatrice goes to take the test and finds out that she does not belong anywhere, she has shown results from all five factions, a phenomena the people in charge call Divergent. She is told to hide this test result or she will "be in trouble" (later known as "she will be killed"), so she does and chooses to go into her favorite group, Dauntless. While there she meets a man named "Four" who guides her through the trials that Dauntless has to offer; but, as she stays in her faction it becomes apparent that she is in a far more grave predicament then she was led to believe.I didn't mind the story line. As I watched the previews for this movie I thought that I would hate it because Summit has been on a real "teenagers in love, while more important stuff is going on" kick; but it turns out that I actually liked it. I just wish there was more to it. I feel this movie would have done better if it were split into two parts or a trilogy. I like the factions, I just wish there was more history to them. I like the post apocalyptic setting, I just wish I knew more about what led them to war in the first place. The story line has a nice premise, but falls a little short in the delivery. I am a guy that looks for detail in my story. Why are these people in this post apocalyptic setting? I expect the answer to be more than "war." Why does this faction hate the other? I expect the answer to be more than "they just don't like the leadership." I was waiting for some real rivalry between the factions. Faction X doesn't like faction Y because of Z. Some sort of deep rooted discourse, like Boston not liking New York (and vice versa). I didn't like that my hand was being held through a character driven story line I had no interest in knowing. I kind of felt like a little kid in a mall with his mother. I really wanted to go to Toys R' Us, but mom is making me go to Marshall's. "But Mr. Burgerrrr! I don't care about Beatrice having a hard time in Dauntless, I want to know more about the world that surrounds her character. I promise I will care more about her after I have gotten my fill."
The real problem here were the characters. We got treated to knowing a lot about Beatrice and Four, but next to nothing about her supporting characters. I want to know why her brother chose the faction he did. I want to know more about her parents, and why they made the choices they did. I want to know more about her friends (that also didn't start out in Dauntless). Why is Christina a part of Dauntless? Did she not like Candor? Are all people from Peter's district as much of a dick as he is? The lack of character building is really shown when people start dying (YES PEOPLE DIE IN THIS MOVIE, BUT I DIDN'T SAY WHO SO NO SPOILER WARNING!), you get the sense that you should be attached to these people, but you just aren't and it is awkward.Another big problem I have was the acting. Unfortunately, we are saddled with two actors that don't seem to know that their faces can do anything besides "deep in thought glance" as the main leads. I liked Shailene Woodley in "The Descendants," and feel that she could be a great actor; but here she just looks like another face soon to be forgotten. The only experience I have with Theo James is "Underworld: Awakening" and now that he has followed up that bad movie with this poor performance I can't think of redemption for him. Every other actor in this performed well, but had such limited screen time/purpose that it didn't make a difference in the end.
This movie seems to have fallen into a classic mistake that looms over most movies based off of books. You have to read the book, for it to resonate with you on some level, but I feel that if I did read the book that I would probably be in some sort of nerd rage right now (and I really have enough venues that cause me nerd rage, Star Wars, Star Trek, PERCY JACKSON). As I stated, I have never read the book, but I still feel like I would have been treated to more detail had I read it. I guess the only positive thing I can say about this movie is that it made me want to read the book.
Final Verdict: Pirate it When thinking of going to see this movie think about "The Purge." You were probably as excited as I was for the premise (No rules for 12 hours), but when you got there it turned out to just be a poor excuse for a slasher film.
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