Yea, yea, here comes my Divergent review. I know it’s so late. But I’m still going to do this. So…yea.
Divergent…where to begin…
Considering the number of heroine trends and the dystopian-themes that are so popular today, this movie kind of falls into the tropes.
The movie is based on the book series written by Veronica Roth.
For a fan of the book, this movie didn’t fail to live up to the novel, but the novel was exactly what we would expect from someone living in the modern-day world. Therefore, the movie didn’t end up being extremely unique. But it’s not that I didn’t leave the movie without a thought.
I’m just going to be honest. I went to the movies (as we call it where I’m from, some call it the “movie theater”) expecting The Hunger Games. Though this movie was obviously directed to tweens, and meant to have similar themes of trying to survive, fit in, deal with “love interests, and rebel against “the system”, the feeling of the two stories still had enough differences to leave different impressions. Really, there are only two reasons why I watched this movie: 1) Shailene Woodley (as a fan of American Girl, I just had to see how she’s grown since her first acting debut. I can’t say she has changed from being the “spunky heroine” in my mind. I kept thinking ‘Felicity’…) 2) It takes place in Chicago, my favorite town. 😉
Combine Inception with the Hunger Games, and you get Divergent. Basically, the movie begins fast.
We hardly get a taste of Beatrice “Tris” Prior’s (Shailene Woodley) life as an “Abnegation” starting off. We’re shown how poor she lives. Basically, an “Abnegation” helps those even more poor than they are. “Abnegations” are meant to be “self-less” people among the many factions post-apocalyptic Chicago is divided into. The factions are as listed: Abnegation (the selfless), as was mentioned before, Amity (the peaceful farmers), Candor (the honest judges), Dauntless (the brave police *cough* military *cough*), and Erudite (the intelligent). Yet, this is all explained quickly in the beginning, and Tris’s life is simplified so we, the audience, wouldn’t get restless…
Tris has this “desire” to be a part of the “Dauntless”, which… who wouldn’t? In the movie, they make a grand entrance where ever they go, make the loudest noises, and jump around all over the place. To Tris, they seem to have the “freedom” she wants. She’s obviously not happy as a “selfless” person because they can’t stand up for themselves, can’t look at themselves in a mirror, and have to live without eating luxurious foods like hamburgers…
So, in the story, eventually, all of the young people had to choose factions to belong to. First, they all had to take a test to see what faction they naturally belonged in. Of course, Tris tested “Divergent” which means she can belong to any faction. This makes her “dangerous” as “Divergents” can’t be controlled by any one faction…
I think that’s all I’ll tell you for now. Don’t want to spoil the movie. All I can say is from there-on-out, there is a long training montage, gun fights, and sad moments. 😦 Boo hoo #Sadmoments
Basically, everything moves pretty much like the video game Call of Duty…with some character interactions.
The ending is pretty predictable, if you are used to tween movies. Once you see Hunger Games, nothing can surprise you. But this movie, on it’s own right, is exciting, interesting, thrilling, emotional, and…just SWANK. There is something for every person over the age of 13, and Tris can add herself to the rest of inspirational heroines to enter the movie screen. She’s pretty tough. One thing I liked about her is that she was decisive. No love triangles, no confusion about where she belonged (themes that plague movies directed to tween girls). She knew herself, and held a sense of confidence that’s rare to see in young women in movies…as the lead protagonist, that is.
Two pet peeves: The “black best friend” (when will we ever get a black heroine?) trope and “Isn’t that guy TOO old?” (her love interest is like…way older than she is)
I recommend this movie. 10/10
#bfx2us
Generation Next 
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