Director: Neil Burger
Cast: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Kate Winslet
Production Company: Summit Entertainment
Release Date: March 21, 2014
Genre: Science Fiction
DIVERGENT is a thrilling action-adventure film set in a world where people are divided into distinct factions based on human virtues. Tris Prior (Shailene Woodley is warned she is Diverent and will never fit into any one group. When she discovers a conspiracy by a faction leader (Kate Winslet) to destroy all Divergents, Tris must learn to trust in the mysterious Four (Theo James) and together they must find out what makes being Divergent so dangerous before it's too late. Based on the best-selling book series by Veronica Roth. (C) Summit
- Rotten Tomatoes
This past weekend I saw Divergent starring Shailene Woodley and Theo James, and I have to say that I absolutely loved it. Like the book, the society in the film is broken into five factions: Abnegation (Selflessness), Erudite (Intelligence), Candor (Honesty), Amity (Kindness), and Dauntless (Bravery). Tris, the main character, takes her aptitude test, which is supposed to tell her which faction to choose during the Choosing Ceremony, which is a kind of right of passage when the young people in the society choose which faction they want to be a part of. Tris' test results, however, are inconclusive, and she discovers that she is Divergent--she doesn't fit into any single category determined by the leaders of the society. As the story progress, Tris has to discover what it truly means to be Divergent and what she needs to do to survive in the society.
Before seeing this film, I had my reservations about it. I had only seen Shailene Woodley in two things: The Secret Life of an American Teenager and The Descendants. I liked Shailene in The Descendants, but The Secret Life of an American Teenager was absolutely horrible, so understandably I had my misgivings about the casting decision for Tris. I had also never heard of Theo James before (although, a few days ago I found out he was the Turk in Downton Abbey--what?!), and he didn't fit my mental picture of Four. So, I was also unsure about the casting for Four. With these misgivings about the central cast, I was doubtful the film would be any good; in fact, I was convinced it would more like Twilight than The Hunger Games, more mediocre than awesome.
Now that I have seen the film, I can honestly say that I was wrong. Divergent is a good movie that I thoroughly enjoyed watching and would gladly go see again. Shailene Woodley and Theo James do a great job as Tris and Four. Individually, they portrayed their characters accurately; together, they had the right amount of chemistry needed for the intensity shared between Tris and Four.
Was the movie completely faithful to the book? No. However, the changes that were made were pretty unnoticeable, and if anything, they added to the film. One of the major changes to the story was the increased presence of Jeanine. The added scenes with Jeanine, I think, make her character a greater threat. In the film, she seems to be everywhere, in her own faction and at Dauntless, and no one seems to question why she keeps popping up. On the one hand, the lack of explanation surrounding Jeanine's character could be viewed as a shortcoming of the film, especially for those who haven't read the book; however, I think the lack of explanation makes her character scarier--no one questions her, which allows her to do her evil deeds unchecked.
Overall, I enjoyed Divergent. I think the film makers and the cast did a great job adapting the book to big screen, and I can't wait to see what they do with Insurgent next year.
Check out a trailer for Divergent below.
Posted in Movies, Science Fiction