Divergent

hollywoodreporter

*This review contains some spoilers* Skip to the last paragraph for my spoiler-free conclusion.

The young adult novel-to-film saga continues. As if Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, and unfortunately, Twilight and The Mortal Instruments weren't enough to satisfy our desire for this type of movie, in comes the Divergent saga, based on the book trilogy by Veronica Roth. The story takes place in a dystopian future where teenagers must choose their future path.

This path, known as a faction, separates people by strength of bravery, honesty, peacefulness, intelligence and selflessness. Our protagonist, Beatrice, goes in for her test to see where she is supposed to belong, even though the audience never really finds out how exactly the test works. The test results come back inconclusive, indicating that she shows signs of belonging to more than one faction. Someone with this rare trait is known as "divergent," and Beatrice is told not to reveal this result to anyone she knows.

Despite the test, the government allows children to select their faction of choice (which pretty much goes against the entire message of the movie on how human will is detrimental). Surprising her parents of the selfless faction, Beatrice chooses Dauntless - the brave enforcers or the city. She puts on an eager and willing face as she jumps right into the Dauntless way of life, even renaming herself "Tris," but the name change doesn't necessarily qualify as a complete personality shift.

Tris finds herself struggling to get by in Dauntless training, consistently under-performing in her challenges and running the risk of being kicked out of the faction. Eventually, Tris starts to live up to the Dauntless expectations and is allowed to stay in the faction, but just when she starts getting comfortable, she learns of a possible war of the factions that could put her life and the lives of her family and friends at risk.

Surprisingly, Divergent proved to be rather fun. I wasn't expecting to enjoy it as much as I did, but a lot of the movie really did work. I think my favorite part was the on-screen chemistry between Tris (Shailene Woodley, who once again proves she isn't just your average American teenager), and her trainer Four, played by Theo James. By themselves, they both do fine, but together, they outshine Katniss and whichever boy she's in the mood for at any given moment.

Slightly more shocking was the movie's use of violence. Teenagers fist-fighting to the point of KO is shown explicitly, which I think sends a message to adult moviegoers who thought they would dumb down the violence for the sake of the younger crowd. They didn't, and for some scenes, you might think you're watching MMA.

Divergent in itself never quite reaches the heights of any of the installments of Harry Potter or Hunger Games (I may have to come back and re-edit that after I see Mockingjay). The shift from Duntless training to all-out war is a bit abrupt and unexplained. Characterization of some sometimes suffers at the hands of sufficient exposure to Tris and Four, so we don't get to see much of Tris' friends or family. Thus, when her parents are killed during battle, it can't help but feel forced. Also, does the government just hire out random tattoo artists (one played by Maggie Q in this movie) to administer the most important examination in the city?

Divergent could have simply existed to fulfill fan's wishes for a feature length film, but thankfully it went above those expectations, although not too far beyond that. Unlike the first Mortal Instruments movie, it also shows some real promise for the future of its franchise with its performances and sheer brutality. I'll see you in the theater for Insurgent.

Rating: 3.5/5