Movie reviews
Review: Divergent (Spoiler-free)
By Danielle van Wittmarschen
April 18, 2014
Director: Neil Burger
Starring: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Kate Winslet, Ashley Judd, Maggie Q
Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Release: March 21, 2014
Run: 140 minutes
★★★☆☆
Veronica Roth’s Divergent follows the new trend of dystopian movies for young adults. The Hunger Games (2012) and the sequel The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013) were a huge success in the box office, while The Host (2013) and Ender’s Game (2013) were both a total flop. Divergent is the newest triology in this genre.
In a world hundreds of years from now, society is divided into five factions. Abnegation, the selfless; Amity, the kind; Candor, the honest; Erudite, the smart and Dauntless, the brave. At the age of sixteen, you take a test and get one chance to transfer between factions. Which faction you belong in is decided by an aptitude test you take in a simulation. There is however one glitch in the system: Divergents, those who cannot be placed in one faction. They have traits from several different factions. The Divergents are a threat to the system and usually keep hidden within the factions.
Beatrice Prior (Woodley) is sixteen years old and as an Abnegation. Beatrice’s test shows inconclusive results, meaning that she is a Divergent. On the day of her Choosing Ceremony Beatrice chooses Dauntless, the in black dressed tattooed people who jump off trains, handle weapons, and are in charge of the police force of this futuristic Chicago.
Beatrice starts becoming one of the Dauntless, getting help from her mentor Four (Theo James), with whom she has (surprise, surprise) a connection neither of them can deny and changes her name to the more Dauntless appropiate Tris. Tris has to pass the initiation test in order to stay in Dauntless and during the second part of the test, mental testing, she realizes that she can break out of simulations (another thing Divergents can do), revealing her secret to Four. Although Woodley seems to know her character, she always seems to be jumping off trains and climbing ferriswheels with perfect eye make-up and flawless hair.
Highlight of the movie is Kate Winslet in her first villian role in the form of Erudite leader Jeanine Matthews. Matthews sees the Divergents as a threat to the system and believes they should all be killed. And she believes the Erudite should be in control of he government, which is currently in hands of the Abnegation. Jeanine is intimidating, scary and, controlling and Winslet embraces her like she always embraces her characters, resulting in some wonderful scenes with the 2009 Oscar winner, including some action from her like we have never seen before.
Divergent may never beat the quality or success of The Hunger Games, that didn't keep Lionsgate from greenlighting the sequel Insurgent (set for a 2015 release) and the last movie Allegiant, which, of course, will be split into two parts. (2016 & 2017).
By Danielle van Wittmarschen
April 18, 2014
Director: Neil Burger
Starring: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Kate Winslet, Ashley Judd, Maggie Q
Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Release: March 21, 2014
Run: 140 minutes
★★★☆☆
Veronica Roth’s Divergent follows the new trend of dystopian movies for young adults. The Hunger Games (2012) and the sequel The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013) were a huge success in the box office, while The Host (2013) and Ender’s Game (2013) were both a total flop. Divergent is the newest triology in this genre.
In a world hundreds of years from now, society is divided into five factions. Abnegation, the selfless; Amity, the kind; Candor, the honest; Erudite, the smart and Dauntless, the brave. At the age of sixteen, you take a test and get one chance to transfer between factions. Which faction you belong in is decided by an aptitude test you take in a simulation. There is however one glitch in the system: Divergents, those who cannot be placed in one faction. They have traits from several different factions. The Divergents are a threat to the system and usually keep hidden within the factions.
Beatrice Prior (Woodley) is sixteen years old and as an Abnegation. Beatrice’s test shows inconclusive results, meaning that she is a Divergent. On the day of her Choosing Ceremony Beatrice chooses Dauntless, the in black dressed tattooed people who jump off trains, handle weapons, and are in charge of the police force of this futuristic Chicago.
Beatrice starts becoming one of the Dauntless, getting help from her mentor Four (Theo James), with whom she has (surprise, surprise) a connection neither of them can deny and changes her name to the more Dauntless appropiate Tris. Tris has to pass the initiation test in order to stay in Dauntless and during the second part of the test, mental testing, she realizes that she can break out of simulations (another thing Divergents can do), revealing her secret to Four. Although Woodley seems to know her character, she always seems to be jumping off trains and climbing ferriswheels with perfect eye make-up and flawless hair.
Highlight of the movie is Kate Winslet in her first villian role in the form of Erudite leader Jeanine Matthews. Matthews sees the Divergents as a threat to the system and believes they should all be killed. And she believes the Erudite should be in control of he government, which is currently in hands of the Abnegation. Jeanine is intimidating, scary and, controlling and Winslet embraces her like she always embraces her characters, resulting in some wonderful scenes with the 2009 Oscar winner, including some action from her like we have never seen before.
Divergent may never beat the quality or success of The Hunger Games, that didn't keep Lionsgate from greenlighting the sequel Insurgent (set for a 2015 release) and the last movie Allegiant, which, of course, will be split into two parts. (2016 & 2017).
Review: Divergent (Spoilers)
By Daniëlle van Wittmarschen
April 18, 2014
Director: Neil Burger
Starring: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Kate Winslet, Ashley Judd, Maggie Q
Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Release: March 21, 2014
Run: 140 minutes
★★★☆☆
The Young Adult world is leaving the supernatural behind and going for the dystopian world of the future. Veronica Roth’s Divergent tries to follow into the footsteps of the highly successful The Hunger Games and does it more succesfully than the previously failed Ender’s Game (2013) and The Host (2013).
Divergent is set in a futuristic, post-war Chicago. Society is divided up in five factions, each representing a way of living: the Amity are the kind, the Candor are the honest, the Dauntless are the brave, the Abnegation are the selfless, and the Erudite are the wise. You are born into a faction and have one chance to transfer when you are sixteen years old. The motto of this state is ‘Faction before blood’. There is however one problem in the system: Divergents. These people cannot be defined by one of the faction traits and are a mix of multiple factions and can break out of simulations, something the factions use on several different occasions. Being considered a threat to the system, they have to hide within the factions, keeping their Divergence a secret from those around them.
The movie follows Beatrice Prior (Shailene Woodley), a sixteen-year old Abnegation born girl. Right away it becomes clear that Beatrice is different from the other Abnegations. She takes every opportunity to look at herself in the mirror, which is considered a selfish act. When she takes her Aptitude Test, the results are inconclusive and her instructor Tori (Maggie Q) calls it Divergent, explaining that Beatrice is in danger because she can’t be controlled by the system and she has to keep it a secret. Beatrice shows traits from Abnegation, Erudite and Dauntless in her inconclusive results. Most people only show one or two factions.
Beatrice is torn by the choice she has to make: stay in the safety and dullness of the Abnegation, or transfer to a potentially dangerous faction?
She doesn’t make her choice until the Choosing Ceremony, letting her blood drop on the coals of Dauntless, leaving Abnegation and her parents for the train-jumping daredevils who wear black and are covered in tattoos. At that moment, Beatrice’s initiation test starts..
Beatrice shows of her bravery by being the first jumper into a black pit from a high building, now officially in Dauntless, she changes her name to the less stiff ‘Tris’ and quickly Tris and her newfound friend Christina (a former Candor) (Zoë Kravitz) try to turn themselves into Dauntless by each getting tattooed, resulting in Tris getting three black birds on her collarbone.
Tris quickly realizes that the Dauntless life is harder than she had imagined, resulting in her getting ranked below the dreaded red line on the score board. Everyone whose name is below this line will become Factionless at the end of the initiation, having to live of the generosity of the Abnegation with no house or job, belonging nowhere in the system. In the final part of the physical part of the test, Tris finally proves herself worthy in a game of capture the flag nothing like any other, with guns that simulate the feeling of a real bulletwound when you get shot. She uses her brain (her Erudite trait) to create a strategy and gets to capture the flag of the opposing team, resulting in her rising on the scoreboard.
Tris’ newfound position turns out to be a threat to her as well. An attempt is made on her life and she only survives because her mentor Four (Theo James) happens to be in the right place at the right time. Four brings Tris to safety. It is obvious based on cliches and the supposed to be longing looks, that there is supposed to be an undeniable connection between the two, the chemistry between Woodley and James is absent.
Divergent wouldn’t be a Young Adult movie without at least one scene where the male lead takes his shirt off. In this case Tris asks Four to show her his in tattoos covered back, which consists of the symbols of the five factions and a bunch of black lines. Any person with common sense will quickly realize that Four, like Tris, is Divergent.
Tris does better in her second stage of the initiation: mental. In a simulation, they are tested on their fears. Because Tris can break out of the simulation, everyone thinks she is some kind of miracle who can easily overcome her fears. Four warns her of the danger she can be in if she doesn’t start controlling her Divergence and takes her into his fear landscape, showing her how to control fear without breaking out of the simulation. This scene is again supposed to be a scene where we see the relation between Four and Tris grow, and although we see how Tris learns more about Four’s past (he turns out to be Tobias Eaton, the son of Marcus Eaton, a government official), the scene again lacks the necessary chemistry between the two.
The best part of the movie comes with the introduction of Erudite leader Jeanine Matthews, played by Kate Winslet in her first villian role. Jeanine believes in the system more than anyone. She considers human nature a threat, something that must be controlled. Therefore Divergents are the biggest enemy, because simulation cannot control them.
And the simulation will control them, together with the Dauntless leaders, Jeanine turns the Dauntless into her robots, sending them after the Abnegation and kill them in cold blood. Divergents she has arrested and both Four and Tris realize the danger they are in and they pretend to be in the simulation.
The end of the movie shows a wonderful surprising Mrs. Prior (Ashley Judd). Who turns out to be a born Dauntless and an expert on their forces.
Although Woodley shows how much she deserved that Golden Globe nomination in 2012 for the Descendants, and she always does it with perfectly made up eyes, which is very un-Abnegation. She however misses the chemistry with her male lead Theo James (who is seven years older than Woodley). The biggest stars of the movie are the more experienced adults Kate Winslet, Ashley Judd and Maggie Q.
Insurgent, the sequel for Divergent, is expected to be released in March 2015. With the finale, in the style of every other Young Adult movie nowadays, split into two parts. Allegiant - Part 1 is expected for a March 2016 release and the final movie Allegiant - Part 2 is set for an April 2017 release.
By Daniëlle van Wittmarschen
April 18, 2014
Director: Neil Burger
Starring: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Kate Winslet, Ashley Judd, Maggie Q
Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Release: March 21, 2014
Run: 140 minutes
★★★☆☆
The Young Adult world is leaving the supernatural behind and going for the dystopian world of the future. Veronica Roth’s Divergent tries to follow into the footsteps of the highly successful The Hunger Games and does it more succesfully than the previously failed Ender’s Game (2013) and The Host (2013).
Divergent is set in a futuristic, post-war Chicago. Society is divided up in five factions, each representing a way of living: the Amity are the kind, the Candor are the honest, the Dauntless are the brave, the Abnegation are the selfless, and the Erudite are the wise. You are born into a faction and have one chance to transfer when you are sixteen years old. The motto of this state is ‘Faction before blood’. There is however one problem in the system: Divergents. These people cannot be defined by one of the faction traits and are a mix of multiple factions and can break out of simulations, something the factions use on several different occasions. Being considered a threat to the system, they have to hide within the factions, keeping their Divergence a secret from those around them.
The movie follows Beatrice Prior (Shailene Woodley), a sixteen-year old Abnegation born girl. Right away it becomes clear that Beatrice is different from the other Abnegations. She takes every opportunity to look at herself in the mirror, which is considered a selfish act. When she takes her Aptitude Test, the results are inconclusive and her instructor Tori (Maggie Q) calls it Divergent, explaining that Beatrice is in danger because she can’t be controlled by the system and she has to keep it a secret. Beatrice shows traits from Abnegation, Erudite and Dauntless in her inconclusive results. Most people only show one or two factions.
Beatrice is torn by the choice she has to make: stay in the safety and dullness of the Abnegation, or transfer to a potentially dangerous faction?
She doesn’t make her choice until the Choosing Ceremony, letting her blood drop on the coals of Dauntless, leaving Abnegation and her parents for the train-jumping daredevils who wear black and are covered in tattoos. At that moment, Beatrice’s initiation test starts..
Beatrice shows of her bravery by being the first jumper into a black pit from a high building, now officially in Dauntless, she changes her name to the less stiff ‘Tris’ and quickly Tris and her newfound friend Christina (a former Candor) (Zoë Kravitz) try to turn themselves into Dauntless by each getting tattooed, resulting in Tris getting three black birds on her collarbone.
Tris quickly realizes that the Dauntless life is harder than she had imagined, resulting in her getting ranked below the dreaded red line on the score board. Everyone whose name is below this line will become Factionless at the end of the initiation, having to live of the generosity of the Abnegation with no house or job, belonging nowhere in the system. In the final part of the physical part of the test, Tris finally proves herself worthy in a game of capture the flag nothing like any other, with guns that simulate the feeling of a real bulletwound when you get shot. She uses her brain (her Erudite trait) to create a strategy and gets to capture the flag of the opposing team, resulting in her rising on the scoreboard.
Tris’ newfound position turns out to be a threat to her as well. An attempt is made on her life and she only survives because her mentor Four (Theo James) happens to be in the right place at the right time. Four brings Tris to safety. It is obvious based on cliches and the supposed to be longing looks, that there is supposed to be an undeniable connection between the two, the chemistry between Woodley and James is absent.
Divergent wouldn’t be a Young Adult movie without at least one scene where the male lead takes his shirt off. In this case Tris asks Four to show her his in tattoos covered back, which consists of the symbols of the five factions and a bunch of black lines. Any person with common sense will quickly realize that Four, like Tris, is Divergent.
Tris does better in her second stage of the initiation: mental. In a simulation, they are tested on their fears. Because Tris can break out of the simulation, everyone thinks she is some kind of miracle who can easily overcome her fears. Four warns her of the danger she can be in if she doesn’t start controlling her Divergence and takes her into his fear landscape, showing her how to control fear without breaking out of the simulation. This scene is again supposed to be a scene where we see the relation between Four and Tris grow, and although we see how Tris learns more about Four’s past (he turns out to be Tobias Eaton, the son of Marcus Eaton, a government official), the scene again lacks the necessary chemistry between the two.
The best part of the movie comes with the introduction of Erudite leader Jeanine Matthews, played by Kate Winslet in her first villian role. Jeanine believes in the system more than anyone. She considers human nature a threat, something that must be controlled. Therefore Divergents are the biggest enemy, because simulation cannot control them.
And the simulation will control them, together with the Dauntless leaders, Jeanine turns the Dauntless into her robots, sending them after the Abnegation and kill them in cold blood. Divergents she has arrested and both Four and Tris realize the danger they are in and they pretend to be in the simulation.
The end of the movie shows a wonderful surprising Mrs. Prior (Ashley Judd). Who turns out to be a born Dauntless and an expert on their forces.
Although Woodley shows how much she deserved that Golden Globe nomination in 2012 for the Descendants, and she always does it with perfectly made up eyes, which is very un-Abnegation. She however misses the chemistry with her male lead Theo James (who is seven years older than Woodley). The biggest stars of the movie are the more experienced adults Kate Winslet, Ashley Judd and Maggie Q.
Insurgent, the sequel for Divergent, is expected to be released in March 2015. With the finale, in the style of every other Young Adult movie nowadays, split into two parts. Allegiant - Part 1 is expected for a March 2016 release and the final movie Allegiant - Part 2 is set for an April 2017 release.