Stop me if this sounds familiar: A movie based on a best-selling series of books about a bunch of good looking teens, who have to fight to survive in a dystopian future. Yes, Divergent was always going to be compared to a certain billion dollar franchise more closely than anything else. While it may not reach the heights that The Hunger Games achieved, Divergent has plenty to like and shows enough promise to warrant the planned follow-ups.
The film takes place in Chicago, 100 years after a devastating war. The former Second City stays safe from whatever lies beyond it thanks to a huge wall. Inside the wall, survivors have formed a society divided into factions, each dedicated to a particular virtue and each with a specific role in the society.
The Erudite faction, for example, seeks knowledge to create a better world. Dauntless members are the soldiers and police, and so on. Every year, all 16-year-olds must choose a faction. Their choices are permanent; Faction before blood. The making of those choices is at the heart of the story – discovering who you truly are, honouring that true self and learning who you can trust in times of danger and crisis. Beatrice “Tris” Prior (Shailene Woodley) and her brother Caleb (Ansel Elgort) must decide whether to remain with the same faction as their parents or follow their hearts, a choice made all the more complicated when it’s discovered that Tris is a Divergent; she and others like her are less easy to control.
If it all sounds a bit complicated, it’s because it kind of is at times. Where The Hunger Games was immediately accessible because of it’s straightforward set-up, learning the different factions and what they stand for is a bit of a chore, especially if you haven’t read the books. Where the movie does excel though is in the breakneck pace that, although keeps character development to a minimum, tries to deliver instead more action and spectacle than Jennifer Lawrence’s showpiece.
Divergent is refreshing for a teen led movie in that it’s not weighted down in angst or schmaltzy love scenes. Woodley is perfectly cast as the tough, free-thinking fighter and she brings the character of Tris to life from the pages of the book with a vitality and energy that immediately win you over. She captures perfectly the inner turmoil of her decision, and the effect it has on her friends and family as she learns to live with who she is.
Fans of the books will notice some changes to the story, but they feel necessary to lay the groundwork for the inevitable sequel. There’s a sense that there’s a larger story unfolding and if nothing else, you’ll be left wanting to see the next chapter and stay on the journey a little while longer.
(Images courtesy Collider, IMDb, Empire)
