2hotFeature
one of my absolute favorites!
Gutsycurene
Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.
Leoni Haney
Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.
briancseel
It is clear these books were rushed out as a copy cat hoping to capitalize on the wildly successful Hunger Games series. The formula was the same. A dystopian future society where people have been arbitrarily divided and oppressed and a young girl who is ready to challenge the whole thing. Hunger Games was much more thoughtful and layered, however. At its core it was a story about totalitarian regimes based on Susan Collins very real experience of living in a communist country as a military brat growing up. Divergent lacked any such layers or depth, but did in some ways make for a more entertaining movie. But at its core it was essentially just a high school coming of age story masquerading as Sci-Fi. You had the high school cliques - the jocks, the nerds, the hippies, the do-gooders and you have Tris Prior who doesn't seem to belong to any one group and is "factionless" (which in dystopian future Chicago seems to be the equivalent of having to sit alone at lunch).Divergent also gets points for all of the guys around our female heroine not being totally worthless, Four is quite capable and Peter proves himself to be of some use in Insurgent. But Tris is not going to be content to shoot a bow & arrow from a distance. That more believable combat is traded for Tris routinely beating up men with ease, which always strains credibility. The love story is better in Divergent, as at least our young heroine doesn't fall for a completely useful wet noodle of a guy. My praise ends there, however, as the story at its core makes zero sense. Essentially 200 years ago, founders created an "experiment" that they would not live to see the outcome of and apparently expected to fail. That experiment is in full on failure as "Jeanine" (has there been a worse name for a villain in movie history?) is seeking to crack down on the Divergents and maintain power over the 3 remaining factions (we did away with 2 in the first movie and yet nobody in the remaining 3 factions seems to think that anything is amiss).But Jeanine is going be challenged by a teenage girl who in true Joan of Arc style (the original Katniss Everdeen) is set to rally an army with her boyfriend Four and the help of his mother, played by Naomi Watts, exactly 16 years older than Theo James. Seems plausible, but not if you age like a Hollywood actress, she looks like his big sister.The movie spends the last half ripping off The Matrix, including the scene where Neo dies, in order for Katniss, er Tris to fulfill her destiny of decoding the founders message. We imprison Jeanine at the end, thus we are 2 movies ahead of the Hunger Games which might explain why there is no box office rationale for the 4th film which would complete the series.Although of course, we can't just imprison Jeanine, because presumably Four's mom now wants to take up the Juliane Moore role of dictatorette.Divergent had enough action and pace to warrant cinematic consideration, but the weak foundation of the series cannot support two stories. Other than getting to live in dystopian Chicago, it is unclear what benefit Jeanine actually receives by oppressing 5 factions of people.As others have noted, the zombie train system makes no sense and for being a totalitarian state, the government in Insurgent is decidedly void of surveillance technology. If you liked Divergent, stop there, leave it at that, and take the wins when you can get them.
AliRadicali
Probably the worst indictment I can give this forgettable franchise is that the only characters with any level of character development throughout the entire trilogy are bad guys and antiheroes. Our heroes, by stark contrast, start off being kind and virtuous and skilled in every conceivable way and thus are never required to grow as characters. I'm not sure if this is a problem in YA writing, film writing or feminist writing, possibly all of the above, but I can't help but notice similarities between the Divergent franchise and the Hunger Games: both of these purport to present a strong female role-model, and yet neither succeed in presenting anything but a petulant Mary Sue who inexplicably finds herself the center of her respective universe. Despite being an uppity go-getter who smashes through dozens of armed men at a whim, Triss is an object: things happen to her not because of the choices she makes but because she is divergent. In this regard Triss, like Katniss is a strange hybrid between the role of the princess and the role of the hero: both the object of the quest as the person going on the quest for said object. The result is muddled story telling without a point, because unlike a classical hero these spunky heroines never really have to grow to prove their worth; as the princess their value is inherent in what they are.Now I could go on to describe how this series features every cliché in the dystopian sci/fi genre, but frankly I wouldn't have cared if the material were competently handled. The operative word being "if". Sadly, the introduction to this setting, with its factions and it's bigotry-against-divergents, is done so lazily that you're left yelling "WHY?!" at the screen for two films straight before the franchise even tries to answer basic questions about the premise, despite the fact that virtually all the drama stems from it.On the plus side, this franchise had a few interesting ideas, albeit poorly executed, and the visuals were not half bad. Overall though, would only recommend as an exercise in critical film viewing, not as a legitimate film-viewing experience.
Eddie Cantillo
Insurgent(2015) Starring: Shaliene Woodley, Theo James, Miles Teller, Kate Winslet, Ansel Elgort, Naomi Watts, Maggie Q, Jai Courtney, Ray Stevenson, Zoë Kravitz, Octavia Spencer, Suki Waterhouse, Rosa Salazar, and Daniel Dae Kim Directed By: Robert Schwentke Review One Choice Can Destroy You You know i'm beginning to see a pattern with all of these dystopian young adult books. They have one good film in their series or no good films, so far with Hunger Games theirs one(catching Fire) and with this series it's zero and getting worse. That is quite disappointing given some of the talented actors I saw in this movie, and actors who have such potential but are in films that are just messy. The second chapter in the Divergent series sees Tris Prior where we left her, hiding in a faction called Animety or something like that. While Janeine(Winslet) has taken over the city and has ordered the dauntless to search for a special divergent to open some box that was found at the Prior home. As to why only one special Divergent can open the box the movie has no clue, no one divergent should be able to open the stupid thing, if only a divergent can open it, then any divergent should be able to, not just the chosen one or something. You know I actually walked out waiting for my mother to pick me up and some elder man asked "what was the moral?" and I wanted to answer better question "What was the point?" this movie is not fun, engaging, have a good story or resembles any awe or enjoyment so what was this film trying to accomplish. The performances may be good from some of the actors which is the only thing that saved the first film, and the only thing that is saving this film, but I hated this one more than the first one. I do not care or know about any of these characters. They are not likable, they are all a-holes. When Tris's brother try's to help her the first she just yells at him, Four just gets tough for no reason, Janeine is the villain so you probably won't like her because her motive sucks, and Miles Teller plays an a-hole. The film does not come all together in a well constructed formulaic fun or interesting picture it just comes off as an okay Michael Bay movie, the only difference is better acting. I'm giving Insurgent a one and a half out of five.
labeatkryeziu
First of all how come this Peter got from bad guy to their friend and he still screw them over , and when he got tris to the room with the machine Tris still didn't want to kill him , really , let the guy who screwed you 24/7 go Second - 20 people cant shoot a single target , really , are they all blind ? , 20 5 year old would hit the target Tris , Four or Celeb Third - why did this Celeb run from bullets of Jeanine so he can go to them without force , or did he just know that bullets don't go straight to the target or maybe false bullets , who knows Fourth - So Jeanine can control their mind and all she does is make suicides , she can easily make them to bring Tris to her , its so simple This is my opinion but if you listen to me you will not waste 2 hours watching a movie that insults your intelligence
