Divergent (Movie Review)

natalie_ca

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*No plot give aways in this post*

I saw Divergent last night.

It was ok.  Mostly unknown actors. The movie's selling points were Ashley Judd and Kate Winslett.

It wasn't really anything like I thought it would be.

It didn't do a very good job in explaining what "Divergent" was.  The one part early on where they almost mention it, was rushed and mumbled in about 30 seconds, and you were left hanging with the thought of "What?!"

You really don't find out what Divergent is until about 3/4 way into the movie, and even then you are left confused.  Later they give you a bit more information about it.  And it isn't until almost the end you find out why "Divergent" is a bad thing.

There was lots of action. No sex or nudity scenes. But there was lots of shooting; though you don't see any graphic deaths. So really, not much on screen blood and gore despite people being killed.
 

Ashley Judd really didn't have a huge part in the movie, and it was odd seeing Kate Winslett cast into a role such as the one she played. Though she did play it well.

If you are looking for male hotness! Plenty of on screen hotness where Theo James is concerned.  Until this movie I'd never heard of him. He kind of had an Elvis broodiness about him and you weren't really sure about his character's alliance for a good part of the movie, which added to his mystique.

The movie moved rather slowly for the first half, and then it picked up the pace.

I'd give it about 3 stars if I was officially rating this.
 
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miagi's_mommy

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I'm not reading this... incase there are spoilers. But I am going to see it tomorrow with my friend and will come back here!
 

laralove

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I've read the book, so I already know what everything means and what's going to happen. I am looking to see how well the film serves the book. I really enjoyed the plot, but I don't think Roth is all that great of a writer when it comes to details, so they've got room to work.
 

miagi's_mommy

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I really enjoyed the movie. I haven't read the book but am going to! They are making 2 more movies... Insurgent which comes out next year and Allegiant which comes out in 2016. Can't wait for them and I hope to read the book Insurgent and Allegiant before the movies come out. :)
 
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natalie_ca

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This was a spoiler. 
  If you didn't know until the end, then we aren't supposed to, either.

I wish I hadn't read your post!  
 
I don't consider that to be a spoiler.  The movie theaters post this Synopsis about the movie. So you know that it's a bad thing. All I said was that you don't find out why until almost the end.  Now if I had said why, then that would have been a spoiler, at least in my mind.

http://www.google.ca/movies?hl=en&n...i=BWIzU9_NO4WD2gW7yIGQCw&mid=c648a01d309a4bca
 This thrilling action-adventure film is set in a world where people are divided into distinct factions based on human virtues. Tris Prior is warned she is Divergent and will never fit into any one group. When she discovers a conspiracy by a faction leader to destroy all Divergents, Tris must learn to trust in the mysterious Four and together they must find out what makes being Divergent so dangerous before it's too late
 
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miagi's_mommy

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To be fair if you are giving a review it is a spoiler if someone hasn't seen the movie yet. That is why I didn't read your post.. but I thought it was a good movie. I just need to read the books before the next movie comes out!
 

laralove

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It was ok.  Mostly unknown actors. The movie's selling points were Ashley Judd and Kate Winslett.

It didn't do a very good job in explaining what "Divergent" was.  The one part early on where they almost mention it, was rushed and mumbled in about 30 seconds, and you were left hanging with the thought of "What?!"

You really don't find out what Divergent is until about 3/4 way into the movie, and even then you are left confused.  Later they give you a bit more information about it.  And it isn't until almost the end you find out why "Divergent" is a bad thing.
*SPOILERS BELOW* -- I'm going to respond to some of the above points and then add a few of my own bringing in comparisons from the book. 

While this is a mostly unknown cast, most of the actors are good. So I don't know that it necessarily matters. The lead roles are well executed. 

I'm interested to hear if other people were left confused about the factions and what Divergent is. I thought both were well explained, but I've read the book, so I already knew. When she went through her test at the beginning of the movie and got her results, I thought that made clear what Divergent is (they didn't explain it until later in the book).

The problem I have with the movie is that it is just a shell of the original story. It's completely void of the emotional connections (good and bad) that exist in the book.

For example, there's animosity between Tris and Peter, but it isn't explain why. This is due to two MAJOR changes to the plot.
  1. Peter's sadistic tendencies. They omitted a violent incident in which Peter took the eye of Tris' male friend Edward fairly early in the competition because he was too close to him in the rankings. Peter was also involved in her attempted murder (which was SUPER TAME in the film compared to the book), but the movie inexplicably omitted Peter's involvement (and also failed to explain why Al joined in at all). Peter also tormented her regularly, but they only used one instance in the film.
  2. Speaking of rankings, in the book Tris fairly quickly moved near the top, and Peter had already made clear what he was willing to do to keep that #1 spot. In the film, she was fighting to get out of the bottom (and was even cut at one point! ***?). These changes completely destroyed not only the significance of tris' decisions in the competition and the risks she knowingly faced for performing well, but also the significance of Peter helping her and her family later. 
Another example is the romantic connection between Tris and Four is very strong in the book and about as strong as a thread in the movie. They really ruined that. I think their greatest error was changing the scene wherein they went through his fear landscape together. In the film, he was helping her understand how to go through it in a way a non-Divergent would. Makes sense for the plot, but in the book she was teaching him how to go through it like a Divergent. It made him vulnerable and had her helping him. This was key in the development of their relationship. Changing that was so unfortunate. They also left out a number of tiny scenes that built up their connection.

They made a lot of other key changes and omissions, but I'll just make one final complaint: They left out significant characters. They're already in the process of making the sequels. Interesting how they'll pull that off when they didn't bother to include so many key players. Another example of how they clearly don't care about characters connections. 
 
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natalie_ca

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. I thought both were well explained, but I've read the book, so I already knew. When she went through her test at the beginning of the movie and got her results, I thought that made clear what Divergent is (they didn't explain it until later in the book).
The actress who did the test, Maggie Q, tends to mumble, and the whole scene was so fast, and the result was not exactly spelled out, it was more intimated. Something about "everything, all of it, you have to go!" as the girl was being pushed out the door and the girl talking over her wanting to know what she meant and what her test results were. It just wasn't made clear.

I had never heard of the book, so I didn't have a clue what this was all about other than the brief movie trailer synopsis.   I guess if you are familiar with the book, that scene would have been more clear.
 
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