Over the past few years, blockbuster films have been dominated by young adult novels-turned-bestsellers; just when one beloved franchise ends, another begins. And after romances like "Twilight" and dystopian thrillers like "The Hunger Games" made millions, both as books and movies, it was only a matter of time before a new franchise would be made to combine the two. Thus comes "Divergent," based on the bestselling novels by Veronica Roth and directed by Neil Burger, hoping to keep up the success of young adult blockbusters. And even with this conventional origin, "Divergent" is still an exciting film that evokes empathy for the characters and excitement for upcoming sequels.
In Chicago 100 years after a devastating war, Beatrice Prior (Shailene Woodley) faces an agonizing decision. Out of five factions in her society, Beatrice's family is in Abnegation, made up of selfless individuals entrusted with running the government. At the upcoming Choosing Ceremony, Beatrice will either choose to stay in Abnegation or join another faction, leaving her family behind forever if she chooses the latter. To aid her in her decision, Beatrice takes an aptitude test designed by her society, but to her horror, the test marks her Divergent: Beatrice could belong to several factions due to her unconventional character. Desperate to keep her results a secret, Beatrice chooses to join the Dauntless faction, made up of soldiers that guard the city. In order to stay alive, Beatrice (who shortens her name to Tris) must be at the top of her class in both physical and mental training. And although she forms friendships with other Dauntless trainees like Christina (Zoë Kravitz), Will (Ben Lloyd-Hughes), and Al (Christian Madsen), she must still evade the Dauntless leader Max (Mekhi Phifer) and supervisor Eric (Jai Courtney), and convince top official Jeanine (Kate Winslet) that she is conforming to society. And meanwhile, she also develops a romance with Dauntless trainer Four (Theo James), who harbors mysterious secrets of his own.
The script for the film, based heavily on Roth's book and penned by Evan Daugherty and Vanessa Taylor, was faithful to the original-mostly. Like most based-on-the-book adaptations, the plot was largely condensed to fit only the most important scenes into the movie. Unfortunately for "Divergent" this strategy made the movie extremely hard to follow unless the viewer was already familiar with the books. On top of that, the timing of the movie was also uneven; at the beginning the film took its time taking an in-depth analysis of Tris's decision to choose Dauntless, only to show a stripped down account of her life there afterwards. Her training, friendships with characters like Al and Christina, and even her relationship with Four were so heavily shortened that I felt cheated out of a lot of the book's best moments.
But luckily, the scenes that did make it into the movie were all spectacular thanks to some phenomenal casting decisions. Shailene Woodley, playing the film's heroine Tris, gave a phenomenal performance that will certainly bring her recognition. It was amazing to see just how easily Woodley became Tris through every line, and also brought an amazing depth to the character that I somehow didn't pick up on in the book. Theo James, playing Tris's love interest Four, also gave an excellent performance, taking on one of the film's most complicated roles and making it look effortless. His own storyline, while taking a backseat to Tris's problems throughout the movie, was brought to the screen beautifully, and it was also a major bonus that James and Woodley had great chemistry together.
The supporting actors were also spectacular, and none more so than Kate Winslet, taking on the role of Erudite leader Jeanine Matthews. It should be noted that Winslet, for all her talent and years in the business, has never played a villain until this film, but she was absolutely incredible in her role. Especially in her scenes with Woodley, she was just as cold, calculated, and dedicated as the book's version of Jeanine, and made her character a formidable obstacle for Tris throughout the movie. Other standouts included Zoë Kravitz as Christina, Ansel Elgort as Tris's brother Caleb, Miles Teller as Peter, Jai Courtney as Eric, Maggie Q as Tori, and especially Tony Goldwyn and Ashley Judd as Tris's parents, who all gave wonderful performances that were both faithful to the book and captivating in every scene.
I'll admit I was a little nervous about "Divergent," especially given the relative inexperience of many of its younger actors and the handling of previous dystopian bestsellers before it. But despite its formulaic script, the movie was actually enjoyable, filled with talented actors, breathtaking action, great music, and beautiful worlds just destined to be in a sequel. While it certainly wasn't perfect, I'm glad "Divergent" will be the next big film franchise and hope its next film will learn from this one's mistakes.