One thing is certain when it comes to movies being made in
Hollywood. If it's at all possible any movie made will come down to
marketability and the chance to spin it off into a series if at all possible.
Now when someone can find a series of books to turn into movies it just makes
that so much better for them. Does it mean movie goers will get something
special? Well, some times yes and some times no. The first two major franchises
in the teen/action genre, TWILIGHT and HUNGER GAMES, have both been pretty
good. But what about DIVERGENT?
After the great wars things changed and people were
segregated into five factions, groups that all contribute to the greater good
of the whole by performing tasks set for each faction. Abnegation believes in
public service for the greater good and taking care of others. Erudite are the
intelligent group built upon knowledge. Amity is the peaceful group that takes
care of food. Candor handles legal matters and deals with total honesty. Lastly
is Dauntless, the warriors and protectors of the whole. There is actually a
sixth group, Factionless, composed of people who fit into no group.
Shailene Woodley stars as Tris, a teenager in the future
living in this world, what is left of Chicago. Her family is part of the
Abnegation faction but she dreams of being in Dauntless. As teens reach a
certain age they are tested to see what faction they naturally belong in. The
woman giving Tris her tests is stunned at the results and tells her to let no
one know what they were. Tris is divergent, meaning she possesses skills in all
five groups and is considered dangerous to society.
When the chance to choose arises, Tris picks Dauntless and
begins life as a trainee in the group. The challenges they go through are incredibly
physical and demanding but she carries on. She catches the attention of two
very different leaders: Four (Theo James) who attempts to help in her training
and Eric (Jai Courtney), the main leader of the band who tries to find ways to
eliminate her when she displays leadership skills that might one day rival his
own.
The storyline here runs down two paths, the first being the
training of Tris and her trying to hide what her true nature is. To show she
has too much aptitude would be to reveal herself but if she doesn't make the
cut when the final test comes about, she could be eliminated altogether and
sent out into the Factionless group. The second story line runs alongside this
one with the Erudite planning something big that is revealed near the last 45
minutes of the film. I won't spoil it by letting you know what that is. How
Tris handles both paths as they converge into one makes for much of the drama
here. How she handles Four and falls for him inserts the romance that these
teen franchises crave.
So does it hold up in the long run? I would say yes it does.
The movie offers and entertaining action film in a world of the future. Like
both TWILIGHT and HUNGER GAMES it features young people in roles once populated
by middle aged males. Instead the action becomes theirs as do the romances
between characters. With teens making up the major portion of the movie going
audience this should make it a guarantee to fill seats. But don't let that
prevent older movie lovers from enjoying this film as well. It delivers the
goods from start to finish and you'll find yourself cheering for Tris before
the end of the movie.
While I sometimes think the whole
concept of franchise films has potential the fear that Hollywood will exclude
anything else remains. Thankfully the star of this film, Woodley, has been
given several great roles in the past few years including starring in THE FAULR
OF OUR STARS and THE DESCENDANTS. It shows that there is some faith in her
ability to not only star in a series but in independent storylines as well. As
long as that continues I'm all for the franchises to carry on. With three more
movies already in the works for this series I'm sure we'll be able to see what
happens down the road.
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