The Divergent Series: Allegiant

First Hit:  As the second to last film in this series, it moves the storyline along and was watchable.

Series films have become prominent fare being produced by Hollywood. Originality appears to be too risky and studios are banking on a prior successful story-lines, many times with the same actors, to produce dollars.

There are series films that have done well and grow in their story-line and presentation. Some are sequential types of films where the story develops over time (e.g. Rocky). Other use the same actors and/or their characters in new situations (e.g. James Bond films). Two of the latest series sets are The Hunger Games series and the Divergent series.

Both of these film series have heroines, use young actors, but the major difference between film number 3 for both these, is that Divergent is watchable and has a plot, whereas The Hunger Games was barely more than a set-up for the fourth film and virtually unwatchable.

Acting wise there are stronger actors in The Hunger Games however the script and possibly the direction let them down.

In this Divergent film, we find Tris (Shailene Woodley) disliking the change in leadership of their community and with this wants to breakthrough the wall surrounding Chicago to find out what else exists. In a daring escape she and Four (Theo James), Christina (Zoe Kravitz), Caleb (Ansel Elgort), and Peter (Miles Teller), go over the wall and end up in the Bureau of Genetic Welfare where Tris meets and begins working with David (Jeff Daniels).

As the façade of David is exposed, Four heads back to Chicago to help his mother Evelyn (Naomi Watts) sort through the problems of governing a division free Chicago.

Woodley is good enough in this film and I don’t know if it was the script, direction or her abilities that lowered my interest and caring about her character. James was consistent in his role and was one of the better characters. Teller was also very consistent, not only in this film, but through all of them. Elgort seemed amateurish in his portrayal of Caleb. Daniels was sufficiently strong as the antagonist. Watts was OK in a role that seemed unrealistic in its portrayal. Noah Oppenheim and Adam Cooper wrote this mediocre script. Robert Schwentke did a fair job of keeping the film moving along despite the lack of solid substance.

Overall:  This film wasn’t completely lost and hopefully its conclusion in June of 2017 will work better.

Insurgent

First Hit:  I liked this slightly better than Divergent, and that’s about it.

We are back in the structured society of 6 factions: Abnegation (Selfless), Dauntless (Brave), Erudite (Intelligent), Amity (Peaceful), Candor (Honest) and Divergent (which is all traits).

They all live in an area where most the buildings are broken down or in small camps in the woods. There are some who live in well maintained and modern buildings. All of this is behind a circular wall where supposedly nothing exists beyond the wall.

The point seemed to be there was a secret box that when someone figures out how it works, the revealed information helps everyone. To get to the point of the film we’ve got to sit through lots of fighting, bravery, and adventure. Was it interesting? Somewhat. Was it believable? At times barely.

Shailene Woodley as Tris was good and she did a really good job with the various feelings and situations she was put in. Theo James as Four was solid. Kate Winslet as leader of the people Jeanine was good given the lines and role. Jai Courtney as Jeanine’s henchman was OK. Miles Teller as Peter was one of the more interesting characters in this film. Brian Duffield and Akiva Goldsman wrote the partially interesting but convoluted script. Robert Schwentke directed the film with some wonderful visuals but it plodded along with a more convoluted plot than needed.

Overall: This second of the series was good enough to see the next film.

Divergent

First Hit:  Not very believable, a little long, some good acting, therefore this film is all over the place.

The future looks grim if you think this film has any modicum of truth. If it is, then I’m not interested in being there.

Basically, the story is that one city, Chicago, is surrounded by a very high concrete wall topped by metal fencing that looks more like antennas. Is Chicago the only society left and how do we know? Society is made up of five different types of people. Really! Is it really possible to take 10’s of thousands of people have them predetermined and predisposed to fit into 5 or 6 personality types? No. These personality types are designed to fulfill certain societal roles.

The personality types (I won’t bother using the names they used as these words are as bad as the story) are:  People who govern. People who are brave. People who are peaceful. People who are intelligent. And, people who are truthful. Right, as if one is predisposed to truth, why can’t they be predisposed to also be peaceful? Oh, that’s where Divergents come into play.

The Divergents have no one predisposition. There is a “test” every young person takes which tells them what they are. Then after learning the results of their test, in a public presentation, each chooses a group to associate with. Although everyone can chose another role than the one they are predisposed, they don’t often pick something different.

However, once they chose a role they are stuck with it and cannot go back to their families or anywhere else. When someone fails the test, they are labeled a Divergent because they have no one predisposition and are considered a threat to society. Tris (Shailene Woodley) learns she is a Divergent but chooses to be in the brave group because they seem to have more fun and are active. As a recruit she excels at some things and struggles at others like fighting. She is mentored by Four (Theo James). Her mother Natalie (Ashley Judd) who is a govern (or is she?) tries to support her.

Her best friend is Christina (Zoe Kravitz) and her help each other pass the test to become a full fledge brave person. If one fails to pass their initiation test they become homeless. There is other stuff about a faction wanting to take over control of the government as led by Jeanine (Kate Winslet) as well but all this is part of an unclear story.

Woodley is very good and does her best with the role, but the whole thing is preposterous. James is good and the chemistry between him and Woodley is good. The downside of his acting or the screenplay is that his difference is telegraphed throughout the film. Kravitz was actually one of the best things about the film – I enjoyed the energy she brought to her role. Winslet was lost in this useless role. Judd was OK as Woodley’s mother and hid her secret well. Evan Daugherty and Vanessa Taylor wrote a poorly conceived script from a published book. Neil Burger directed this and given the script and story it was OK.

Overall: This was so poorly strung together that the result was; it was too long and unbelievable.