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Film review of ‘Divergent’
SPOILER ALERT!
– based on Veronica Roth’s worldwide bestselling novel,
this thrilling movie of love, war and breaking away from the constraints of a
twisted society in a distant, post-apocalyptic future is fantastic and a
definite must see!
WOW! After reading Veronica Roth’s fantastic first novel in
the Divergent, Insurgent, Allegiant
series I was blown away by the originality in the becomingly popular
sci-fi/fantasy teen genre. And I must say that the film certainly did her
proud. Director Neil Burger produces a fantastic film sticking extremely close
to the highly acclaimed novel about a distant future where the population is
divided into “factions” depending on each person’s aptitude for certain personality
traits: Selflessness (Abnegation),
Intelligence (Erudite), Bravery (Dauntless) Honesty (Candour) and Kindness (Amity).
No expense has been spared it seems when it comes to fantastic special effects
as you experience the numerous serum-induced “simulations” that test (in often
brutal ways) our heroine, Tris (Shailene
Woodley). We watch (often on the edge of seats) her struggles to fit into her new world of bravery which is made
that much harder when she discovers a life-threatening secret – she has an
aptitude for more than one faction, i.e: she’s divergent..... dun dun dur!
As if this profound news isn’t enough, she’s suddenly thrust
into the dangerous world of her new faction and the confusion of love interest,
Four (Theo James). What is great
about this sub-plot love story is that the conflict is finally not centred in a
love triangle but more focused on whether the often cold dauntless leader has actually fallen for our infallible heroine or
whether he is trying to discover her life-endangering, scandalous secret. Furthermore, the setting that’s created is absolutely fantastic – it may not be all that much to look at on screen but as far as staying true to the book goes, the film feels like it’s been plucked out of my own imagination.
But I must say that I couldn’t help but feel a tad concerned when seeing the trailer and movie posters, not that the film didn’t look epic, but I was sadly prejudiced against Shailene Woodley (I hadn’t known of her before seeing Divergent) who plays Tris. As the lead part in one of my favourite trilogies, I felt she had a lot to live up to and excuse me for saying this but I felt she may have been just another “pretty face” (after seeing Rosie Huntington-Whiteley in Transformers: Dark of the Moon and her pathetic attempt at “acting”) I was worried the film had perhaps made a similar mistake here as in the books, Tris only refers to herself as quite plain (of what I can remember). Obviously I knew she’d be more attractive than “plain/ordinary” but to see Shailene Woodley, I did have my doubts. But I’m happy to say I’ll eat my words - hats off to Woodley, she performed fantastically and not only blew away my preconceptions (which I’m feeling very guilty about now), she blew the whole cinema away in her professionally outstanding performance...I feel another Jenifer Lawrence in the making.
Another thing I must add is that I was pleased the film wasn’t afraid to be quite brutal in some scenes – there was no feeling that they tried to protect younger audiences too much which I’m thrilled about as it shows the producers were more focused on delivering a true representation of the novel, rather than a family-friendly money making machine (thank goodness). There was no shortage of often cold bursts of violence yet I’m pleased this didn’t consume the film that is more about breaking away from conformity.
Finally, I’d also like to say how thrilled I was by Kate Winslet’s performance. Yet again a perfect portrayal but this time of the control-maniac, Jeanine Mathews, as she two-facedly turns into the unlikely villain of this story. I can’t wait to see her subtly twisted performance in the sequel (bit worried about how wrong that may sound but I can’t help it when her performance was so brilliant and truly reflective of Roth’s creation).
Overall: 4 stars.
A thrillingly epic, well made film but not quite enough for me to recommend to everyone but if you’re a fan of The Mortal Instruments series or The Hunger Games, I can’t recommend highly enough. Stays honestly true to Roth's novel and with great performances from the whole cast, I highly anticipate its sequel!
Pictures: http://www.cineworld.co.uk/assets/media/films/7081_poster_iphone.jpg + Own editing on Paint
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