Hi everyone. I’m sure quite a few of you have seen the film by now. I actually saw a screening of it. I teamed up once again with my friends over at The Grand Shuckett to do a podcast review and discussion. Feel free to listen here:
Tris Prior (played by Shailene Woodley) is the central character of this futuristic dystopian society of Chicago. In this word, everyone is divided into five factions based on their personal ties. When they are of age they have to test for which faction matches them best. Once you choose a faction you must commit to it for the rest of your life. Tris’s test yields strange results that show she is Divergent, so chooses Dauntless – the faction placing bravery above anything else. Divergent means that she doesn’t really fit solely into one faction and these types of people are considered a threat to the system. She has to keep her results a secret, but that becomes increasingly more difficult as a war looms that will threaten her family and friends.
My general take: it was a solid film, if a bit too long. I didn’t leave the theatre feeling completely pumped. Contrast that to a Captain America 2 screening that I saw just 2 days later where I left the theatre giddy as a school girl and wanting to see it again right away. I’ve only read the first Divergent novel and it was years ago, so for me I felt like it captured the tone of the book fairly well. I was a bit fuzzy on some details since it’s been a while (forgive me, I’ve read hundreds of books since then), but it did leave out a few key scenes that could have generated more intensity and interest for those who have not read the books. Overall it’s a decent book to movie adaptation.
Oh, and Theo James is a sexy beast. And he’s got acting chops too! It didn’t take me until Divergent to figure that out though. He’s been on the list since I first saw him in Underworld: Awakening in 2012. Yep. He can already cross vampire off his repertoire. All in all I thought the Divergent book was okay but not amazing, so I was never motivated to keep reading. I also wanted to hold out on finishing it if it was anything like The Hunger Games where I found myself liking each sequel less and less (though the Catching Fire film was admittedly amazing). From the sound of how it ended based on reviews, that would have been the case for me once again so I’m glad I dodged that bullet.
If you’re a fan of the books, I can’t see why you wouldn’t watch the films for these to compare differences. Some areas exceeded my expectations, especially where casting is concerned. As for the movies? I’ll definitely watch the sequels, especially because I know there will be more of this:
