The Divergent Series: Insurgent
Directed by: Robert Schwentke
Written by: Brian Duffield, Akiva Goldsman, Mark Bomback - Based on the Novel by Veronica Roth
Starring: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Octavia Spencer, Jai Courtney, Ray Stevenson, Zoë Isabella Kravitz, Miles Teller, Ansel Elgort, Maggie Q, Mekhi Phifer, Daniel Dae Kim, Naomi Watts, Kate Winslet, Emjay Anthony, Keiynan Lonsdale, Suki Waterhouse, Ashley Judd
Adventure/Sci-Fi/Thriller - 119 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 19 Mar 2015
Written by: Brian Duffield, Akiva Goldsman, Mark Bomback - Based on the Novel by Veronica Roth
Starring: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Octavia Spencer, Jai Courtney, Ray Stevenson, Zoë Isabella Kravitz, Miles Teller, Ansel Elgort, Maggie Q, Mekhi Phifer, Daniel Dae Kim, Naomi Watts, Kate Winslet, Emjay Anthony, Keiynan Lonsdale, Suki Waterhouse, Ashley Judd
Adventure/Sci-Fi/Thriller - 119 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 19 Mar 2015
In millennial speak, the acronym ‘smh’ stands for shake or shaking my head. Its proper usage is when you witness or see something so ridiculous all you can do is smh. While reading about The Divergent Series: Insurgent, I came across this quote from co-producer Lucy Fisher: “We’re very lucky to have a living author to consult with. On our last movie [The Great Gatsby], F. Scott wasn’t really available.” SMH. I can only assume this particular instance will be the only time someone compares Veronica Roth and her Divergent Series young adult trilogy to Fitzgerald and by association, Gatsby. The Divergent Series: Insurgent (a title so inane I will use it for the rest of this review) is comprised of many things including blatant slices of The Hunger Games, The Maze Runner, and The Matrix, but it is not Jazz Age Fitzgerald.
Quick, who yelled, “I can’t let anyone else die because of me!”? You’re half right. Both Tris (Shailene Woodley, 2014’s The Fault in Our Stars) and Katniss from The Hunger Games shout it. Both girls are on the run from a hegemonic despot who knows how to maintain balance and order within their respective realms, if only the young whippersnappers and malcontents would stop causing so much trouble. In The Divergent Series: Insurgent, Jeanine (Kate Winslet, 2013’s Labor Day), leader of the intelligent Erudite faction, disposes of the delicate faction equality rules and employs a section of the soldier faction, Dauntless, to carry out her dirty deeds. She requires divergents.
Quick, who yelled, “I can’t let anyone else die because of me!”? You’re half right. Both Tris (Shailene Woodley, 2014’s The Fault in Our Stars) and Katniss from The Hunger Games shout it. Both girls are on the run from a hegemonic despot who knows how to maintain balance and order within their respective realms, if only the young whippersnappers and malcontents would stop causing so much trouble. In The Divergent Series: Insurgent, Jeanine (Kate Winslet, 2013’s Labor Day), leader of the intelligent Erudite faction, disposes of the delicate faction equality rules and employs a section of the soldier faction, Dauntless, to carry out her dirty deeds. She requires divergents.
If you recall the rules and regulations from the first film in the series, divergents are those rare individuals who have a little bit of every faction characteristic within them; therefore, they cannot be controlled by any of them. I suppose that makes divergents the only three-dimensional characters running around post-apocalyptic Chicago. Everyone else is a stoic soldier, a pacifist farmer, a cold-hearted nerd, a selfless humanitarian, or an overly honest lawyer. No wonder the faction system is collapsing; two movies in, and these are still some rather arbitrary personality divisions.
There is not much to analyze about Insurgent, pardon, The Divergent Series: Insurgent. Coming after even worse titles such as The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1, The Divergent Series: Insurgent wittingly continues one of Hollywood’s most obnoxious trends. Everybody knows Insurgent is part of Veronica Roth’s redundant young adult trilogy. There is no need to send out these films with overburdened, tongue-twisting titles too. Tris has some PTSD after watching her parents get slaughtered in the street and shooting a hypnotized Dauntless friend in self defense. To show us how raw and vulnerable she is, or how serious and ready to kill people she is (I’m not sure which), she lops off her hair with some garden shears right off the bat and comes out looking layered and fresh from the salon.
Her much older boyfriend, Four (Theo James), whose name I am tired of rolling my eyes over, is still around as well as Tris’s brother, Caleb (Ansel Elgort, 2014’s Men, Women & Children), and chameleon Peter (Miles Teller). How many times may a character switch teams and allegiances before it jumps from startling story twist, to comic, to loathsome? Miles Teller may have wowed us in 2014’s Whiplash as an emotionally abused wannabe master drummer, but The Divergent Series: Insurgent will wash away all of those memories. Teller overacts Peter to the point of absurdity and he switches sides so often I cannot blame you if you get lost and have to ask your friend, “So, are we rooting for or against Peter right now?” Just about all of the villains are overly obnoxious to the point of disbelief. Super bad guy Eric (Jai Courtney, 2014’s Unbroken) is a walking war crime and Max (Mekhi Phifer) looks annoyed because he is forever second fiddle to whomever else is on screen at the time.
Thank you Kate Winslet for doing your best to try and class up the joint. Her character is just as monotonous as all the others as she tortures divergents trying to open some sacred container, but at least she holds back a bit. One is not required to cackle, drum their fingers together, and hold demon like stares to play an effective villain. Dial it back a bit folks. Speaking of dialing it back, The Divergent Series: Insurgent should not be in 3D; it adds nothing to the enjoyment, wow factor, or spatial comprehension of the film. It is a blatant ploy to steal more of your money while it attempts to disguise the fact that The Divergent Series: Insurgent is a turkey full of mushy dressing. The 3D is the gravy that tries too hard.
You know who else is in The Divergent Series: Insurgent? Naomi Watts! Does that matter? Nope, she doesn’t have anything to do either. Director Robert Schwentke, behind the comedy/action film RED (2010) will have a blockbuster under his belt after this (there is no way this thing will not rake in about a billion dollars global), but he will forever more be linked with a film people are going to mock. The Divergent Series: Insurgent is ugly, boring, has no likeable protagonists, has no believable villains, and once you see the ending, Veronica Roth may be accused of blatant theft from other sci-fi/fantasy stories.
Comment Box is loading comments...
