By: Eric Himsel
It's hard not to bring up recent young adult book
adaptation without including dystopian futures and female protagonists. That is
what you will find in Divergent, an adaptation of the first in a trilogy of
books by Veronica Roth. It may be reminiscent of the recent Hunger Games
franchise, however, Divergent tackles different issues and has a subtext all its
own.
The film's introduction does an intelligent job of explaining the
premise that could have been bogged down with clichés, but does a nice job
explain the world and the rules of this society. Years after an apocalyptic
war, Chicago has set up a society of its own. Each member of society must
confine in one of five factions, each focusing on a positive quality they feel
is most important. After choosing a faction to belong to for the rest of their
lives, they must always think and act as their faction allows.
The protagonist Tris, however, is a "divergent", meaning she does
not belong in any of the factions but rather her personality encompasses
several ideas together. Those that are divergent are terminated or become
homeless. Tris must hide who she is in order to survive.
The film was a tad long winded, relationships that were not
well developed could have been left out all together and the montage filled
middle could have been trimmed around the edges. The roller coaster final third
of the movie could have used more time. It felt rushed and was a bit confusing.
Having read the novel I kept up however the average moviegoer may feel
distraught. The movie could use more time explaining why certain events are taking place instead of too much character development.
The production quality was top notch. The scenes in the
simulator that displayed Tris’ worst fears felt alive and startling. All of the
action was well performed and never felt half-baked. Audio mixing was done
masterfully during the action heavy scenes.
I did appreciate Tris’ reaction to the tragic events that occur.
Shailene Woodly, who plays Tris, actually carried some of the more difficult
scenes and was a joy to watch through out the film. Her pretty-boy love
interest (played by Theo James) seemed too full of angst, which made him almost
unlikeable. The relationship could have used more subtle hints at romanticism because their first kiss seemed a bit out of place.
When compared to the Hunger Games, Divergent falls a bit
short on thrills. You are never sure where the film is going next plot wise,
but that is both a positive and a negative. The Hunger Games has a clear destination that the viewer is anticipating, however in Divergent there no foreseeable destination so viewers are left wondering what's the point. The plot twists will keep you
entertained, but if you haven't read the books you might think it's overly long.
Divergent lives up to the book but new comers to the
franchise might be under whelmed. The production value and Shailene Woodly give
this film enough edge to keep most entertained. If you are interested in young
adult fiction Divergent is a worthy candidate for the next big thing. 7/10.
Images: divergentfaction
