Film Revisitations: Divergent (2014)

This review was originally published on a separate site in March 2015

Adaptations of young adult book series have been all the range as of late. Thanks to the immense success of the Harry Potter films, and the repeat success of the similar film tactics (one film per book, finale split in two) with the equally - but not as praised - Twilight series, it seemed obvious that more books would be adapted for the feature film treatment. The Hunger Games was a success for Lionsgate, as was the later Maze Runner for 20th Century Fox, but there were plenty of failures (The Mortal Instruments, Vampire Academy, and Beautiful Creatures failed to gain sequels, whilst Narnia and Percy Jackson are struggling to obtain larger profits with each continuation). One film that had surprise success was Divergent, released in early 2014 to mixed reviews and a moderate profit.  

Based on the 2011 book by Veronica Roth, it follows the story of Tris (Shailene Woodley), a young adult living in a society split into several factions (like the houses in Harry Potter) run by a female dictator (like in The Maze Runner, which was first published in 2009, or The Giver (1993) but here played by Kate Winslet). When they reach a certain age, she and countless others - including brother Ansel Elgort, who would later play her lover in The Fault in Our Stars - must decide which faction they must live in: Abnegation, Amity, Dauntless, Candor or Erudite. But there are two other factions - factionless or Divergent, where you have two or more of the above traits. Surprise surprise, she ends up discovering that she's a Divergent, which the government consider threats because they can't be controlled. When Tris joins Dauntless through a process which would realistically give people diseases, she trains to be a parkour enthusiast with help from future lover Four (Theo James) and future menace Eric (Jai Courtney), forming a friendship with Christina (Zoë Kravitz) and an estrangement with Miles Teller's Peter. But when a plot comes to fruition about the eradication of Abnegation, Tris must use her new-found abilities as a Divergent to save her family - a plot point that only transpires in the last 30-40 minutes of this 2-plus hour of the film. For the most part, it's just training.  

Yeah, it's safe to assume that this isn't a good film. The biggest problem is the pace, as it drags through its entire runtime. It never picks up, things never get interesting, and you sit through the film bored half to death. Add some terrible dialogue and story elements, ranging from the various Dauntless tests to a literal game of Capture the Flag, all whilst constantly teasing the inevitable romance between Woodley and James which takes an age before finally coming to fruition with no actual effect. It just happens after a few teases. It also doesn't help that the plot takes so much from pre-existing book series (and in some cases film series) that it doesn’t feel like its own film - it's a conglomeration of different films turned into one. The biggest comparison to be made is with fellow Lionsgate franchise The Hunger Games - a dystopian future where an all-powerful government has the power to lower population numbers through the poorer states committing mass homicide until a group of rebels fight back against the system. It is an overall summation of the nearly-concluded 'trilogy' squeezed into one 2 hour bore-fest, all whilst paving the way for even more sequels including another two-part finale (the first of which, Insurgent, comes out this week) - it wasn’t that good the first time, but here they fail on a much larger scale. 

That's not to say the film is without its merits. Woodley does an admirable job in attempting to make the written dialogue sound realistic, whilst James does at times convey emotion. The rest of the cast is debatable, as Winslet chews the scenery and Teller proves that this blockbuster is just a paycheck ahead of his sublime performance in Whiplash. The biggest acting fault comes from Courtney, who not only lacks any actual presence as a villain aside from mere annoyance but doesn't seem capable to show any expression outside of sneering. He's never been commended for his roles, so here it's more on the part of the casting directors than anything. But on the plus side, some shots of the film - whilst nothing particularly exciting, as like skinning a cat there's only one way to portray a dystopia - do look good. It is something of a pity, as director Neil Burger has done well with the likes of Limitless and The Illusionist. This comes across as a black mark in an otherwise clean resume.  

Divergent is dull as hell. It lacks any sense of originality, and those elements that are added are bog-standard at best. Performances are a mixed bag, visuals are mediocre at best, and it drags its heel through the 2-hour runtime. It's a shocker that this film managed to earn any money, and even more of a travesty that we'll now have to suffer this franchise until 2017, by which point it will be long forgotten and a newer worse franchise of young adult novel adaptations will take its place. It's the Circle of Life. 3/10.