Divergent

Welcome to another episode of Lights....Camera....Popcorn!

Today's review is Divergent.

Directed by Neil Burger.

Written by Evan Daughtery & Vanessa Taylor.

Based on the novel "Divergent" Written by Veronica Roth.

Review #247

MPAA Rating: Rated PG-13 for intense violence and action, thematic elements and some sensuality.

Run Time: 139 min

Hulk Spoils Hollywood Podcast Page

Cast

Shailene Woodley...Tris

Theo James...Four

Ashley Judd...Natalie

Jai Courtney...Eric

Ray Stevenson...Marcus

Zoë Kravitz...Christina

Miles Teller...Peter

Tony Goldwyn...Andrew

Ansel Elgort...Caleb

Maggie Q...Tori

Mekhi Phifer...Max

Kate Winslet...Jeanine

Ben Lloyd-Hughes...Will

Christian Madsen...Al

What do you get when you combine Ender's Game with The Hunger Games?

This movie.

Plot 

In a world divided by factions based on virtues, Tris learns she's Divergent and won't fit in. When she discovers a plot to destroy Divergents, Tris and the mysterious Four must find out what makes Divergents dangerous before it's too late.

I said it in the Hunger Games: Catching Fire podcast that you can listen to here. I thought this movie would suck and it did. It sucked a lot. My issues with this film are countless. The first being that from the first frame I instantly thought Hunger Games only in a cleaner society. The world Divergent takes place in has 5 distinct factions that create a sense of purpose and belonging to each individual. This is a call back to the different districts in Panem. Then Ender's Game gets into the act with Divergent's main character Tris.

By now you've seen in the trailers so this is not spoilery. Tris is divergent which means that she's not limited by the controls this society have set on everyone. There are a few of these "special" people that pose a threat to the established order this is what makes her character so important. It also made me not care for a single millisecond. The reason why this film fails so miserably for me is that it's based on a series of books that came after The Hunger Games. There are too many parallels that you can make that just don't jive. I'm of course am just going by the film adaptations of these stories so it wouldn't surprise me in the least to find out that within the body of the books there's missing exposition that flows better and produces a more cohesive narrative. My thoughts on that reasoning is 3 simple words.

I don't care.

Now I'll explain why.

Since these films are being made off a trilogy or more books. Hollywood is taking the approach of not open ending each chapter. Instead of teasing the POSSIBILITY of a sequel they are flat out telling you there will be another one. Which in turn leaves the previous film with a lack of closure. It's a beyond stupid tactic to employ for several reasons. The first and most important one is the audience response. There's no guarantee that these films will hit big with the people. So to assume that and prepare for a cinematic universe is daring and dumb. What's given tinseltown these brass balls is the success of The Hunger Games but the counter argument was the under performance of Ender's Game. So the powers that be are hedging their bets that Divergent will be able to cash in on the massive success of Katniss and friends. It seemed to have worked since this film grossed $54,607,747 opening weekend.

However....

The momentum almost came to a dead stop after that. Final world wide total was a pedestrian $139,776,993. This apparently was enough to forge ahead with not only the second books (Insurgent) adaptation but the third (Allegiant) which will surprise surprise be split up into 2 films. I just don't see it and it for me stems with one person.

Shailene Woodley.

She was in a word awful in this movie. The unfortunate thing about this is that I think she's a decent actress. I think she will kill it as Mary Jane Watson in The Amazing Spider Man 3. The problem is that she's not in The Amazing Spider Man 3 playing a supporting character. She's the headlining character in her own franchise and she flops miserably in this. First off she just doesn't look the part physically. Again I have no idea how she's described in the book but after talking about The Hunger Games with my cousin and Hulk Spoils Hollywood co host Carlos "The Ranger" Morales he gave me some background on what Katniss was like in the books and it gave some insight to how the films changed her for the better. In Divergent, Tris is just too damn weak. And her character is not fully formed mentally.

Meaning Woodley's performance never gives Tris a clear focus or agenda. She's constantly hinting at her true feelings about EVERYTHING. Her life, the world she lives in, her thoughts on the established order. I hate to keep doing this but in The Hunger Games you knew right away what Katniss was all about. Perhaps it was because she lived in poverty so her disdain for the upper class was understandable. Here, Tris hates something but doesn't show it or expresses what she would do to change it with one exception. I can't say what that was. Be on the look out for the Divergent podcast to get more of a detailed explanation.

That being said, there's really not much else I can get into without completely blowing up my spot. I'll finish off by saying that this film wasn't expected to be any good by my eyes and I hate that I was right. There was so much underdevelopment in a lot of areas here that it will take a ton of convincing by The Ranger to get me to change my mind. I for one do not expect that to happen but stranger things have happened. One thing I do know for sure is I will NOT be seeing how this story comes to it's inevitable close. I gave Divergent a chance and like the free will that each divergent possesses I will exercise mine and wait for The Hunger Games: Mocking Jay Part 1.

On the 5 star scale. Divergent gets the goose egg. 0 stars with a "Save The Loot!" recommendation.

That's a wrap for today.

Until Next Episode...."I'll Save You A Seat!"

"D"