When an aptitude test shows that Tris Prior (Shailene Woodley) is Divergent, she is warned not to tell anyone. As Tris and her brother Caleb (Ansel Elgort) prepare for Choosing Day (the day each young person of age gets to choose which faction they belong regardless of the faction they were born into), Tris battles with the knowledge of being Divergent and her duty to her family. When she discovers a conspiracy by a faction leader (Kate Winslet), Tris must place her trust in the mysterious Four (Theo James) for help in discovering what makes Divergents so dangerous.
It's no surprise that this movie took top spot at the box office opening weekend. Not only is the acting superb, the special effects are amazing. Combine that with the romantic element of Tris and Four, and you have a movie that will attract teens and young adults in droves. It's an angst-filled, emotional 139 minutes that includes tons of violence and action. The PG-13 rating is definitely earned for the violence that, while not overly gory, could scare younger children. The dream sequences in the Fear Landscape are intense, one character commits suicide, and more than one character takes horrible beatings. There is no sex in this movie, but there is some passionate kissing and viewers see Four's naked back when Tris asks to see his tattoo.
While I've done my best not to compare Divergent with The Hunger Games in my mind, I found that Divergent opened with a much slower pace and took its time setting the scene for all that was to transpire after it than The Hunger Games. This made Divergent seem like a longer movie, when the running time is a few minutes less. Once Tris chose the faction she wanted to belong to and left her family, the pace picked up quickly and it was pretty much an anxiety-filled, thrilling adventure through to the end.
The Lil' Diva (12) had read the books and was eager to see this movie. She's aching to see it again and impatiently awaits the next installments of this series--Insurgent (2015) and Allegiant (2016)--in theaters. She was a bit disappointed in characters that the movie left out from the first book and is suspicious of how the movie story line will move forward when those characters played roles in books 2 and 3.
Overall, if you like dystopian fiction and were a fan of The Hunger Games and Catching Fire in theaters, you'll most likely enjoy Divergent.
Release Date: 21 March 2014 (USA)
Production Co: Summit Entertainment, Red Wagon Entertainment and more
Rated PG-13 for intense violence and action, thematic elements and some sensuality
Runtime: 139 min
We saw this movie in the theater on March 20, 2014. This review contains my honest opinions, which I have not been compensated for in any way.
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