ON DVD NOW
Director: Neil Burger
Stars: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Jai
Courtney, Kate Winslet, Zoe Kravitz, Miles Teller and Ashley Judd
Released: 11th August
Teen fiction is hot property. However
while the books themselves may have been widely successful, it’s luck of the
draw to see which ones translate well onto screen. You have the popular romance
novels Perks of Being A Wallflower
and The Fault In Our Stars making
waves at the box office with both critics and fans alike, while sci-fi/fantasy
series Twilight and The Hunger
Games franchise have made billions and gone on to become some of the most
successful films of all time making stars of their cast.
While Sci-fi thrillers are a big draw to
the young audiences, they are also a tough sell. The Golden Compass, Percy
Jackson and The Mortal Instruments
have all had a tough time at the box office each with less successful results.
Divergent is the next offering, taken
from Veronica Roth’s best selling debut novel that has now spawned two sequels.
Set in an alternate post-apocalyptic world
150 years in the future where Chicago has been cut off from the outside world
and split into factions of society, Tris Prior (Shailene Woodley) has come of
age and must decide which one she wants to be a part of. Will she be in Abnegation
(selfless), Amity (peaceful), Candor (honest), Dauntless (brave) or Erudite
(intelligent)? While each person is free to choose which one to join (and many stay
within their parents faction), once chosen it is your new family for life
(“faction before blood”) and you cannot switch back.
Tris was raised alongside her brother in
Abnegation, but has always felt different from those around her and struggled
to fit in and adjust to a single form. When her test result proves that she has
an aptitude for more than one faction, she is labeled ‘Divergent’. This is a
problem, as according to the smart Erudites, the totalitarian-like group of the
factions that consider themselves elite above the rest and lead by Jeanine (a
scheming Kate Winslet), a Divergent is a liability to the system and something
that needs eradicating.
For fear of being discovered and killed she
tries to blend in by joining the action loving Dauntless group led by Four
(Theo James) and Eric (Jai Courtney), all the while continuing to keep her
identity a secret for fear of her life.
You’d be forgiven for dismissing this as
a copycat Hunger Games (female lead,
dystopian society, romance), and in truth there are many parallels. Tris is a
much weaker, innocent lead however who struggles with the big physical tasks. She
is not a natural fighter or leader and is in danger of being thrown out of
Dauntless with no skills and no future. Hunger
Games’ heroine was in the thick of it from the start and was a natural
hunter meaning she could use her life skills in the tournament– less training,
more immediate action and tasks. The similarities from both franchises are obviously
evident given that Divergent’s
filmmakers wanted to hitch onto the blockbuster ride and launch another successful
series.
The set design is very bland. ‘Chicago’ doesn’t
have anything going for it or for that matter anything to distinguish it as
being Chicago at all, while the colours are completely washed out. It feels
like a large factory warehouse in the middle of the desert, the scope and scale
of the place completely lost. Those who haven’t read the books have been given
no explanation for the setting, the history and why there seems to be nothing
on the side of the great wall. Perhaps this plot flaw will be dealt with on the
next one.
Director Neil Burger, whose previous
films included the slightly drab The
Illusionist and the bizarre Limitless has dropped out of taking on the
sequel, with Time Travellers Wife
Robert Schwentke taking over.
While perhaps the story is in itself the
problem narratively speaking the cast are still terrific. Woodley is continuing
to impress as a leading lady, and although she doesn’t yet have the charisma of
a Jennifer Lawrence or Kate Winslet she does well here and for the part of Tris,
bringing a warmth and genuine humour to an otherwise serious story. Speaking of
Winslet she makes a great villain as the morally delusional Jeanine, though her
part is small she certainly brings some star quality.
Other members like Ashley Judd, Maggie
Q, Miles Teller and Zoe Kravitz do a good job enriching the backing characters,
while Theo James is an adequate romantic lead.
Insurgent is already in development so perhaps a fresh director will breathe a
different life into a possible worthy franchise.
VERDICT:
* * *
A
little lackluster, it’s not quite the blockbuster everyone hoped for – but it’s
still a fun action romp. Book fans will be sufficiently happy, and with a great
cast it’s done well enough for Insurgent
to get the green light for next year.
Divergent is out on Blu-Ray and DVD now. Insurgent
will be released next year.
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