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Divergent
| Released |
4 April 2014 |
| Director |
Neil Burger |
Starring
|
Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Kate Winslet, Zoe Kravitz, Miles Teller, Jai Courtney, Maggie Q |
| Writer(s) |
Evan Daugherty, Vanessa Taylor |
Producer(s)
|
Lucy Fisher, Pouya Shabazian, Douglas Wick |
| Origin |
United States |
| Running Time |
139 minutes |
| Genre |
Action, adventure, sci-fi |
| Rating |
12A |
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Growing pains.
Whatever happened to films about those difficult teenage years that didn’t take place in a post-apocalyptic society? Once upon a time, you couldn’t move for high school movies, whereas these days it’s all dystopia and laboured metaphors. Take Divergent for example, the first film adaptation of the popular book series by Veronica Roth. It covers all the bases of the teenage experience; growing up, finding out who you are and where you belong, first love etc., but it does so from the vantage point of a walled city surrounded by wasteland where how you spend your life is determined by a drug induced hallucination. Honestly, I feel like I haven’t seen a cheerleader since the ‘90s.
It is years after war has ravaged Earth and society has been split into four factions in an attempt to preserve peace. When the young people reach maturity they must undergo a test to see which faction they belong to. Our heroine Tris (Shailene Woodley) lived in Abnegation (selfless charity givers) all her life but always felt an affinity with Dauntless (adrenaline junkies). In fact, Tris is Divergent - showing traits of all the factions. Though she chooses to join Dauntless, she must hide her true nature for fear of persecution.
It’s hard not to see the specter of the The Hunger Games while watching Divergent, but while that series is relatively biting in its satire, Divergent’s attempts seem hopelessly juvenile, its likable young cast becoming entangled within the silly mythology. Woodley, a talented and promising performer, is left floundering in a role that attempts to marry sweet naivety with steel backbone but never reaches that sweet spot. Her love interest Theo James is similarly nondescript, as is Miles Teller, a charismatic actor who is wasted in the role of a tedious bully. Only Kate Winslet gets a chance to do something interesting with her role, relishing a rare villainous outing as a treacherous faction head. Direction from Neil Burger (Limitless) is competent if unremarkable and shows little of the visual flair that he is capable of.
Although Divergent is the first film in this particular franchise, it already feels a little tired. Though it’s not an unpleasant viewing experience, it is certainly underwhelming and does little to capture the imagination of a new audience outside those already loyal to the series.
-
Linda O’Brien |
