Divergent - Just another Hunger Games?

Rating: 6/10 (10 April 2014)

For those who haven't read the Divergent series by Veronica Roth, you might be wondering about all the similarities between this film and The Hunger Games – both set in a dystopian future with a very powerful 'state' controlling every aspect of life, society divided up into a number of classes and a fearless lead female who's willing to fight and take on the State. Well, you would have wondered right. But having said that, The Hunger Games turned into a massive box office success for a reason and if it ain't broke don't fix it right?
I found the concept quite fascinating – society is divided into 5 different factions based on their personality traits. But, as expected with teenage fiction, it was a little too oversimplified for my liking. Another issue I had with the faction system was the overlap between Abnegation and Amity, as they both value kindness, peacefulness and forgiveness as their core life principles. So isn't Amity just a less extreme version of Abnegation, disguised as a bunch of barefoot hippies?
But much in the way that The Hunger Games made us all wish we were the archery- extraordinaire brave enough to volunteer ourselves as tribute to save our doe-eyed younger sister alongside the boy who threw bread at us, there are also many qualities that are admirable in Tris. Perhaps a major difference between her and Katniss was the fact that Tris rejected the selfless values she was brought up with in favour of her true identity as Dauntless. At the heart of the film is a story about identity and having the courage to stay true to yourself. In that sense, while almost everyone could relate to the bravery and sacrifice in The Hunger Games, Divergent is targeted at a slightly younger age group.
All in all, this was an entertaining film but don't try to read too much into the story. Staying quite true to the novel (although not as closely as The Hunger Games), the film in my opinion even improves on some aspects of the book. For example the final confrontation between Tris and Jeanine (Kate Winslet) flowed more smoothly than the scenes described in the novel.
Shailene Woodley brought an added dimension of vulnerability in Tris, and there is just something fascinating about her that really makes you pay attention when she's on the screen. And Kate Winslet was excellent as always in bringing cold and calculating Jeanine to life.
IMDb: 7.6/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 40%
(From projectreel: http://projectreel.wordpress.com)