After the past few months of reviewing
horror movies of wildly varying quality, I thought it was time I get
back to the other major focus of this blog: young adult fantasy
movies. With the Hunger Games saga nearly done for, it seems
clear Divergent is primed to take its place as the Next Big
Thing. All of the elements are there: a much beloved book series
with legions of rabid fans, a superstar actress in the making in the
form of Shailene Woodley, resident hunk Theo James, and a production
value that seems to treat the property with respect.
The movies are based on the Divergent
trilogy, written by Veronica Roth. I haven't read them yet, but
I know they concern a rebellious teen girl rising up to fight the
power in a standard post-apocalyptic dystopian future where people
are divided into different groups. That is, of course, a very broad
summary as I've read they focus on character issues and societal
aspect much more than anything else, but that hasn't stopped with it
being CONSTANTLY compared to the Hunger Games. A quick online
search will yield just as many articles saying how it's a Hunger
Games ripoff to ones saying it totally isn't.
The film rights to the novels were
bought by Summit Entertainment, who was VERY eager to strike gold
again after their Twilight Saga films made them a couple of bucks.
They had a rather lackluster 2013, as their previous attempts at
recapturing the young adult market with Warm Bodies and
Ender's Game didn't exactly set the box office on fire. They
recruited writer/director Neil Burger to helm the first film, a wise
choice as he's yet to make a bad movie in his career. You mileage
may vary on that, but I've personally enjoyed everything of his I've
seen, ESPECIALLY the amazing 2006 film the Illusionist. How
good was that movie? He got a good performance out of JESSICA BIEL
in it.
Unfortunately Burger wasn't also tapped
to write the script, that honour went to writers Evan Daugherty and
Vanessa Taylor. Daugherty isn't held in the highest regard in the
movie world, having co-written Snow White and the Huntsman and
the recent Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot, neither movie
earning much praise for its writing. Taylor has had a far better
reception, in addition to her acclaimed script for the movie Hope
Springs she's an Emmy-nominated writer for her work on the
nuclear hot Game of Thrones television show. Definitely a
fair pedigree of talent involved in this one, so let's see how it all
mixes together with A Ghoul Versus The Divergent Series:
Divergent!
We open with some beautiful shots of a
devastated Chicago, which is confusing because I thought this movie
was supposed to take place in the future? Oh wait, it is, my bad.
They probably should have chosen a different location for this to
take place in, it's really hard to tell with that city. As the
camera pans around the ravaged buildings, you can really see how two straight movies of Michael Bay bullshit have REALLY taken its toll on the
former metropolis. Life still continues on the streets of the city,
as we're shown groups of people all dressed in identical colours of
clothing. A young woman named Beatrice “Tris” Prior narrates us
into the scene since that's the ONLY POSSIBLE WAY to convey
information anymore, saying the City is the last place left in the
world after the war. A group called the founders built a wall around
the city to protect the survivors, as well as dividing them into five
groups to “keep the peace”, hence the different coloured clothes.
Group roll call!
- Erudite: the smart ones who value knowledge and logic, and appear to have all the kush office and science jobs. They like the colour blue.
- Amity: the farmers, who value kindness and harmony and are always happy. They work in yellow and red.
- Candor: all about that honesty and order, they are the law and order of society. They wear black and white.
- Dauntless: who function as the police and protectors of the City as they are brave and fearless. Their colour is all black.
- Abnegation: the selfless who are dedicated to helping others, they favour all gray.
We learn there's also a group called
the Factionless, people that don't fit into any of these convenient
archetypes. They're homeless, for some reason that isn't explained.
I could point out how these groups sound suspiciously familiar to the
houses in Harry Potter, right down to the smart group wearing blue
and the kind ones wearing yellow, but I'm trying to keep this review
free of cynicism. Tris is of the Abnegation faction, who also have
run of the government. They are led by a man named Marcus, who is
played by the incredibly awesome Ray Stevenson, a man who never fails
to bring his A-game. Tris' father Andrew works alongside Marcus on
the ruling council in an undefined role.
The montage of the factions over, we
finally get to meet Tris, who is of course Shailene Woodley. After a
decade of acting on television, she was more than ready to step into
the spotlight and has earned critical acclaim in every movie she's
done to date. She's getting a haircut from her mother Natalie, who
is played by Ashley Judd. Oh. Joy. SHE'S in this. Let's just say
I'm not a fan of her work and move on. Tris is nervous because it's
the day she takes the test that'll determine what faction she belongs
to, which she is very torn about. She's worried she'll have to leave
her family, while on the other hand she's worried she'll have to stay
Abnegation as she's not exactly enamored with their mindset.
We get an example of this as she is
chastised by her older brother Caleb for not helping an older woman
carry her groceries, something an Abnegation should do without a
second thought. This is rather amusing as Caleb is played by Ansel
Elgort, who would go on to co-star with Woodley in the tear jerking
smash the Fault in Our Stars. This does help to explain their
off the charts chemistry in that movie, since they'd basically been
working together nonstop for the majority of 2013. Caleb takes her
to the building where the test is being administered, as we see long
lines of the factions standing outside. The faction system is
revealed to be not all perfect when Tris witnesses one of the Candor
bullying some of her fellow Abnegation. She tries to intervene but
Caleb stops her, which is rather contradictory to his message of
helping people just a minute ago.
The Dauntless show up for the test via
train, recklessly jumping out instead of waiting for it to stop.
Tris watches them with great admiration, giving a not so subtle clue
as to which faction she wants to be a part of. We get the details of
the test, that if a person taking it gets a different result than
what they want they are permitted to choose which faction they'd like
to join. Uh, what's the POINT of the test then if you can just
choose where you want to go? Why would anyone NOT want to join the
kick ass looking Dauntless? Tris enters the room for her test, which
is being given by a Dauntless woman named Tori. Tori is played by
the badass Maggie Q, a very logical choice to play a brave and
fearless character.
The test involves sitting in a
technochair and drinking a small vial of liquid, which transports her
into a room full of mirrors. Part of being Abnegation involves
abstaining from looking at mirrors, but she can't help herself, which
results in things getting WEIRD. One trippy sequence later she ends
up tackling a wild dog to save a little girl, which results in a
frantic Tori snapping her back to reality and ordering her to go
home. Tris, confused, asks what her result was. Tori tells her she
tested for Abnegation, Erudite, and Dauntless, which is something
called Divergent.
I'm confused, how is EVERYONE not
Divergent? I get the test is meant to hone in on your defining
characteristic to choose your placement, but you mean to tell me a
Divergent is rare? Wouldn't every teenager in the world test the
same way, since at that age you're just a jumbled mess of hormones
and conflicting thoughts? Going even further, what about when you
mature and become open to new ideas? The film's clearly stated that
one you make your choice it's permanent, but that doesn't account in
the slightest for human growth. Are all the Factionless Divergent
too, since their brief description of “doesn't fit into one of the
pre-established factions” LITERALLY DEFINE what Divergent would be?
How in the world does one test for order but not logic? I suppose
you could make the case the kids have been conditioned from their
upbringing to think a certain way, but as Tris just proved it's not
always effective. It's magnified even more when the Dauntless are
the coolest kids at the party, wouldn't EVERY SINGLE Amity kid want
to be one of them? This is a sign I'm going to be asking a TON of
questions in this one.
Tori orders Tris to go home and tell
her parents she tested for Abnegation only, which is the result
she'll enter into the database. She refuses to expound upon what any
of this actually means and kicks Tris out. That night at dinner
Andrew chides her for leaving the test so early, as it will reflect
poorly upon their faction which is currently under a smear campaign
by the Erudite, who think THEY should be running the show. They're
currently levying an allegation against Marcus that he abused his
son, causing him to defect to another faction. This is treated as a
HUGE deal but isn't given any other explanation other than telling us
the Erudite are the bad guys. After the dinner Caleb tells Tris
tomorrow at the choosing ceremony she needs to think of her family,
but also needs to think of herself. This is a very nice bit of
character development for him, giving him some much needed depth to
the cardboard cutout he's been so far.
At the choosing we're introduced to the
head of the Erudite, Jeanine Matthews, played by the incomparable
Kate Winslet. She condescendingly talks to Andrew and Natalie about
the nasty rumours plaguing Marcus, Natalie sniping at her that she
knows she's behind him. MRRROWWW! The choosing involves taking a
knife, cutting your hand, and dripping blood into a bowl adorned with
the symbol of whatever faction you wish to join. This is HORRIFYING
because I only see one knife, and I really hoping they're dipping it
into some kind of sterilizing solution between cuts because otherwise
that is DISGUSTING. We sit through a montage of choice after choice
until it's Caleb's turn, and he shocks the world by choosing Erudite.
OH SNAP!
This is also confusing because why is
Caleb testing the same day as Tris despite being older than her? I
kind of assumed that once you hit a certain age you underwent the
test, but there he is. Tris is next and chooses Dauntless, her
parents looking more aghast than they were with Caleb's decision.
Tris runs off with her new faction to board their train, meeting a
new friend in the form of Christina, a Candor turned Dauntless.
Christina is played by Zoe Kravitz, making this the second Kravitz to
star in a young adult blockbuster franchise as her father played
Cinna in the Hunger Games. She was also in M. Night
Shyamalan's dud After Earth, which we'll be getting to very
soon. The train takes them near a rooftop that they have to jump off
to get on, introduced to one of the leaders named Eric. Eric is
played by Jai Courtney, who is one the fast track to bland action
hero stardom with roles in the fifth Die Hard movie as well as
upcoming roles in the new Terminator and Suicide Squad
films.
Eric says in order to join Dauntless
they have to make another jump, this time off the other side of the
building without allowing them to see what they're jumping into. He
asks who will be first, Tris volunteering after no one steps forward.
She walks to the edge and peers down, seeing it's deep down into a
hole in a lower building that is surely death. She jumps anyway,
landing in a giant net. She's lifted out by the aforementioned Teen
Dream Theo James, here playing a character nicknamed Four. This is
James' second major movie, his first playing a character in the last
movie of the abysmal Underworld series. Wait, it's NOT the
last? They're making ANOTHER one? Fuck my life. Tris is almost
immediately taken with him thanks to the magic of Insta-Chemistry,
and I can't say I blame her.
After the rest of the new blood makes
the jump, Four announces himself as their instructor. They get
settled in and eat dinner, the recruits sitting together at a table
with Four. Tris tries to talk to him but he's very standoffish to
her because he is GRUFF. Things segue into life around the Dauntless
base, called the Pit. Many training montages follow, given some
weight because the initiates who aren't cutting it will be kicked out
to become factionless. Tris turns out to be the worst in her class,
which is a nice change of pace from how these “Chosen One” type
of stories usually go. To take her mind off this, Christina suggests
they go get tattoos, a trademark of the Dauntless.
At the tattoo parlor Tris spots Tori
working there, but finds her as unhelpful as ever. She ends up
getting a tattoo of three birds on her chest, Tori telling her she
made a mistake by choosing Dauntless. Tris trains harder and starts
to get slightly better, but is still ranked very low on the board
that shows the progress of everyone. Four's defenses slip a bit as
he gives her pointers on how to improve, while Eric is revealing
himself to be a sadistic asshole. This comes to a head during a
knife training session where Eric makes Tris stand against a wall
while Four throws knives at her, which earns her a lot of respect
among her fellow initiates.
Well, all except one. There is Peter,
the Candor who was bullying Abnegation at the beginning of the film.
He's been a total prick to everyone, but especially Tris due to her
former faction. He's played to perfection by Miles Teller, who
co-starred with Woodley in her other major teen romance movie the
Spectacular Now. Geez, is there anyone in Dauntless she HASN'T
dated?! Yet another of this cast poised for bigger but not
necessarily better things, he will be playing Reed Richards in the
upcoming Fantastic Four reboot. Teller shares a news report
that Tris' parents are ALSO being accused of abusing their children
like Marcus was, taunting her over it. Things only grow worse as we
see Jeanine arrive at the Pit for a meeting with the Dauntless
leader, Max, which seems ominous. Max is played by an almost
unrecognizable Mekhi Phifer, who is barely even in this thing.
Al, one of the other recruits, wonder
what she's doing there. Will, the know-it-all former Erudite of the
group, speculates they're meeting to hunt down Divergents. Everyone
scoffs at this, as there's NO WAY Divergents actually exist. Geez,
did you people not read the contract for the movie you signed up for?
This scene is nice because it's our first HINT at a plot existing,
considering we're almost an hour in and virtually nothing has
happened. That's not really a complaint because I haven't been bored
yet because Neil Burger has kept things moving along smoothly, but
that good will can only last so long. Eric continues to be an
asshole by pitting Tris against Peter at their sparring training,
Four giving her some quick pointers about how to handle herself.
They don't work and she gets her ass knocked out. She wakes up A DAY
LATER to find Christina and Will standing over her, breaking the bad
news Eric has kicked her out.
They don't have time to dwell on this,
as they have to report to the train for something called war games.
Tris runs after them, boarding the train because what does she have
to lose at this point? This almost seems to impress Eric, who allows
her to participate in the game. The game is a variant of Capture the
Flag taking place in an old carnival, Eric's team up against Four's
team. The instructors pick their teams, Four choosing most of the
initiates for his side. Tris gets the idea to climb atop a nearby
ferris wheel for a better vantage point, learning Four is afraid of
heights in the process. She spots Eric's flag in a nearby tower, the
initiates deploying to retrieve it.
After a shootout with taser guns, Tris
emerges victorious with the flag. This is enough to save her from
being cut, as well as earning Four's respect. Everything's coming up
Tris! We jump ahead a bit to the Dauntless getting supplies from
downtown Chicago, which I think is a good of a time as easy to stop
this movie to address some stuff that's been bugging me. I know all
of this is probably addressed in the book and isn't vitally important
to the movie, but HOW DOES THIS SOCIETY WORK?!
Is it a socialist based economy or is
there currency of some sort? There must be since there's homeless
people, but why are they homeless? Why do the selfless Abnegation,
who RUN the City, ALLOW factionless to suffer like this? Are all the
factions just given a set amount of supplies, or are there
determining factors? What do the Amity get in exchange for
presumably growing the food for everyone else? What purpose do the
Erudite serve, since so far we haven't seen a lot of technology? Why
was a Dauntless tattoo artist helping to administer faction tests?
Doesn't that seem like something the Erudite should be doing?
Who were the founders? Are they still
a thing, or did they split into the factions ala the founders of
Hogwarts? How were the Abnegation chosen to lead the city? How does
the Abnegation council work? Do they have terms? Do the other
factions get to vote on their leaders, or is this all handled in
house? I could go on like this forever, there is no much unexplained
and vague stuff in this film. Aaaand back to the review. As Tris
loads up a truck with bags, she notices someone trying to catch her
attention with the ol' “shine a mirror into her eyes” trick. It
turns out to be her mother, who somehow knows she's Divergent and
warns her about the next stage of her training because it involves
them looking into her mind.
This is key because Tris must keep her
true status a secret at all costs, due to the Erudite hunting them
down. Tris figures out Natalie used to be in Dauntless, but before
she can find anything else out she's interrupted by a guard. When
she turns around her mother is gone, because she must have taken a
few classes at Batman Academy. Jump to Tris' test, which is
basically the same one she took previously only this time Four is
handling it. He explains he's going to inject a serum into her full
of neurotransmitters that'll allow him to see into her mind and find
out what she's afraid of. The hallucination involves her being
attacked by crows, but she easily evades them by diving into a body
of water. Just as quickly as it started it ends, Four informing her
that's the quickest time he's ever seen for escaping the test. The
next test involves her drowning, which she also aces in record time.
This REALLY sets off Four, who asks what the result of her aptitude
test was. He doesn't believe her when she replies Abnegation,
telling her no Dauntless could escape drowning the way she did.
Tris goes to talk to Tori, who is now
suddenly more than happy to talk to her because... uh, we've got to
get this anemic plot moving SOMEHOW people! We learn about Tori's
Dauntless brother, who was killed by the leadership when they figured
out he was a Divergent due to his test results. This is enough to
scare Tris, who sneaks out of the complex and meets with Caleb at his
new job. He is of no help whatsoever, at it appears he's been
heavily drinking the Erudite kool-aid. Security comes to grab her
but she whoops on them until Jeanine shows up, taking her to her
office. Jeanine talks about Abnegation is breaking the laws by
harbouring Divergents, asking for Tris' help in maintaining the
status quo. You mean the laws that the ABNEGATION control? Tris
agrees to aid her, although if you freeze frame the movie just right
you can totally see she has her fingers crossed behind her back.
Jeanine drives Tris back to Dauntless,
where she's almost immediately captured by three masked men who try
to throw her off a cliff. Fighting back, she grabs one of them and
is horrified to see it's Al. Four shows up to save her, taking her
back to his quarters to stay the night while he sleeps on the floor.
So... he's just going to let that attempted homicide slide? He
didn't even go back to deal with the students! Isn't one of the core
tenements of Dauntless about justice and serving as the POLICE? In
the morning she heads out for breakfast, Al actually having the
audacity to ask for her forgiveness. “Hey... yeah, totes sorry
about that whole trying to kill you thing! We cool?”. Instead of
beating the shit out of him like I was hoping, she simply calls him
out for being a coward in front of everyone. Later, Tris, Christina,
and Will are discussing his actions when they hear a commotion
outside their quarters. They go outside to see other Dauntless
dragging Al's body out of one of the canals, the people standing
around saying he jumped.
Tris somehow feels guilty about this,
Four trying to console her that Al would have ended up factionless
anyway due to the fact he never would have passed the tests. Tris
says she won't either, finally admitting that she is Divergent. Four
says he will not let his faction kill her, taking her to the test
room to teach her how to fool the tests. This involves the both of
them going into his mind to face HIS fears, the point being to show
her how to do things the Dauntless way instead of the Divergent way.
Through this we discover Marcus is his father, and did in fact abuse
him. This also gives us the meaning of his nickname, since he has
four fears. Pretty lame, but still better than his birth name Tobias
I suppose.
Click here for Part 2!
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