Wish I Would Have Diverged From This One

Rating: 6/10 (25 March 2014)

Unfortunately this film fell well flat of any expectation I had, and hopefully at least moderately entertained the avid fans of the novel and series. The movie has been hyped, given a moderate budget, IMAX primed, and well-cast by some known names (Judd, Woodley) who have delivered some fine performances in the past. This however was not enough to save some lame writing, and uninspiring directing. I unfortunately have not read any of the novels, and this movie didn't exactly make me want to go diving into this world anytime soon. I can only expect that most readers of the books will not be pleasantly surprised with how this adaptation turned out. It didn't seem to possess the realism and grit that "The Hunger Games" possessed, and even a similar movie in the genre "Ender's Game" was crafted better in most ways. This is another film in which the length can't really be complained about, however, I was wanting to physically check out of the movie for the last 45 minutes, and probably mentally checked out before that. Most of the action/fight scenes, and scenes with guns seemed about as realistic as some episodes of "Star Trek" in the 70's..seriously! It was pretty bad. The plot believability, and character development also was pretty horrific. Woodley did an alright job I guess, considering she had to work with what she was given, but all in all, if you don't HAVE to watch this movie, I would personally recommend DIVERGING completely and watching something else. Here's hoping this mediocre crapfest of movies ends soon, and either "Noah" or "Captain America: Winter Soldier" are well done in the next few weeks.