OK to watch if nothing else is on ...

Rating: 6/10 (27 July 2014)

I didn't read the books so I can't judge how close they stayed to the original material. However, as you usually recognize short comings in movies that work with an adopted screenplay - this is not one of them. The movie feels cohesive and the leaps it has to make to get everything into a 2 hour flick are well executed, with seamless transitions throughout the story. But the story feels extremely derivative and offers nothing new or thought provoking, which could be due to the shallow incorporation of the whole back-story. It's hard to imagine the circumstances that lead to such a society depicted in the movie and so the parallels to our own society or which path could lead to such a society are missing (not very well explained). Also the whole time, while watching, I kept running thru a list of other movies this one "knocked off". In the end, it's a Hunger Games meets Equilibrium with nuances of Ultraviolet and Aeon Flux - and considering the novel was published only 3 years ago, I reckon that the whole trilogy is not very original. The acting is pretty decent but the chemistry between the leads is lacking - James appears to be a good actor but should have never been cast alongside Woodley who is really good in that role - though, both put together is just awkward to watch and it's easier to find a better Four than Tris.
Bottom line, don't expect much and watch it purely to pass 2 hours of your time - then this one isn't a bad choice.