Divergent (2014)

Directed by: Neil Burger
Country: USA

Movie Review: If you’re a fan of “The Hunger Games”, you’ll probably be interested in “Divergent”, the fifth feature-film from Neil Burger (“The Illusionist”, “Limitless”) based on the first volume of the trilogy novel by Veronica Roth. The following two parts, “Insurgent” and “Allegiant”, are currently being filmed and in pre-production, respectively. The story is set in a futuristic world, which was divided into five factions: Abnegation, for the selfless; Amity, for the peaceful; Candor, for the honest; Dauntless, for the brave; and Erudite, for the intelligent. Tris (Shailene Woodley) is visibly expectant to know in which faction she fits in. The results of her tests are inconclusive and Tris falls in a rare and persecuted category known as Divergent. Nonetheless, she chooses Dauntless and once inside the faction, her boldness will be constantly put to test through a set of survival games. This probation phase lacks good ideas and shows an infuriating imbecility disguised of bravery, since most of the actions to perform are stupid and hard to believe. During this time, Tris will fall in love with Four (Theo James), one of the faction’s instructors, and will have to confront a fanatic of the system, the Erudite’s leader Jeanine Matthews (Kate Winslet). Despite energetic in its approach, the film wasn’t distinct or fresh, and I couldn’t find many reasons to recommend it. The immediate sensation was: ‘I’ve seen this somewhere’, and even the narration sounded like an old classic song. For a much more satisfying futuristic action ‘games’, I urge you to watch the conceptually superior “Snowpiercer” from the Korean master Joon Ho-Bong.