An Immaculate Cinematic Adaptation

Rating: 9/10 (24 March 2014)

The immaculate cinematic adaptation of Veronica Roth's futuristic bestseller "Divergent," set in a post-apocalyptic Chicago, is neither as gripping nor as gritty as its literary counterpart. I read the first installment of Ms. Roth's trilogy two weeks ago, and adventurous but formulaic best describes its narrative. Interestingly, Summit Entertainment is the same Hollywood studio that regaled us with the "Twilight" franchise as well as the "The Hunger Games" movies. Based on the $56-million "Divergent" coined over its first weekend, Summit has launched its third lucrative franchise. By its second week of release, "Divergent" should recoup the remainder of its $85 million production costs before the "Captain America" sequel stomps it into obscurity at the box office. Comparably, "Divergent" lacks the taboo romance of "Twilight" and the pugnacious pluck of "The Hunger Games." Happily, it surpasses its closest competitors—the colorless "Vampire Academy" and "Twilight" novelist Stephanie Meyer's other dead-on-arrival tale "The Host" that toplined a similarly feisty female. Chiefly, "Divergent" differs because its' government lacks the Draconian nature of its counterpart in "The Hunger Games." The fascist government that keeps its boot wedged firmly against the collective neck of Katniss Everdeen, her friends and family in "The Hunger Games" is conspicuously absent in "Divergent." Our heroine, Beatrice Prior (Shailene Woodley of "The Descendants") isn't like Katniss, and she doesn't define herself with an iconic choice of weapons so much as a lifestyle pursuit. Ultimately, like "The Hunger Games" and "Star Wars," Beatrice finds herself cornered in a flawed society that treacherous evildoers want to sabotage through any means at hand. Consequently, "Divergent" doesn't have the built-in, ticking time bomb conflict that "The Hunger Games" has with a rebellion. Indeed, this predicament isn't far ahead, but at least not in this origins opus. "Divergent" incredibly surprising, but its 140 running time won't wear you out.
"Limitless" director Neil Burger and "Snow White and the Huntsman" writer Evan Daugherty and "Game of Thrones" scribe Vanessa Taylor depict a dystopian society that has split itself into factions to prevent any one fraction from gaining the upper hand. Indeed, the unrest that lurks ominously in "Divergent" grows out of a conspiracy between wicked members of two fractions. The message, I suppose, is old people aren't entirely trustworthy. Meanwhile, "Divergent" opens with a gathering where teenagers can declare the fraction of their choice. At age sixteen, male and females assemble for The Choosing Ceremony. Basically, after a war that ended 100 years ago, the survivors divided themselves into a handful of groups: Abnegation, Amity, Candor, Dauntless, and Erudite. Each group is based on a personality virtue. Abnegation consists of selfless people who place the needs of others before their own. They feed the poor wretches who are not members of a fraction. Amity represents the peaceful people. Candor is made up of those who exalt honesty and truth. Erudite worships intelligence and sagacity. Not surprisingly, Dauntless embraces bravery and reckless impetuosity. Our wallflower protagonist Beatrice hails from a selfless Abnegation family. Abnegates dress in gray and are contemptuously denigrated as 'stiffs.' Andrew (Tony Goldwyn of "Ghost") and Natalie (Ashley Judd of "Kiss the Girls") are Beatrice's parents. Caleb (Ansel Elgort of "Carrie") is Beatrice's brother. Before The Choosing Ceremony, each teen submits to an aptitude test. The results indicate the suitable fraction for them to join. Dauntless member Tori (Maggie Q of the TV series "Nikita") exams Beatrice. The rules dictate the test administrator must belong to a different fraction from the one the tested teen comes from. Something goes wrong with Beatrice's test. "You're different. You don't fit into a category," Tori confides in her. " They can't control you. They call it Divergent. You can't let them find out about you." Testing divergent is the worst thing that can happen to a teen in this society. No fraction will accept them if the divergent test results are made known. A sympathetic Tori warns Beatrice to conceal her status from everybody, including her parents. Nevertheless, this impediment doesn't stop Beatrice from surprising her mother and father. She joins the Dauntless. She struggles to keep up with these adrenaline junkies. They love to scale the elevate railway platforms and scramble aboard trains as the trains are breezing out of the station. Getting off these trains proves to be even more challenging! The Dauntless expects them to leap off the trains and land on nearby rooftops. Eventually, Beatrice renames herself Tris and braves perils galore during her initiation ritual, including a homicide attempt on her life. Gradually, she evolves from a lowly worm to a self-propelled butterfly with a kick. Along the way, she attracts the eye of one of her superiors, Four (Theo James of "Underworld: Awakening"), and an amorous relationship develops between the two.
Anybody who has read Roth's novel shouldn't be surprised by the textual omissions Burger and his scenarists have deleted some of the more violent scenes. The use of chemicals to test Dauntless faction members, especially with regard to their fears, resembles the missions in "The Matrix." Like "The Matrix," "Divergent" wrestles with the theme of conformity. Our tenacious heroine learns how to handle herself during boot camp combat. As the finale appears on her horizon, Tris knows more about those she loved that she didn't know. She finds more strength in herself than she thought impossible, too. She enters the Dauntless world as an expendable but emerges triumphant. The scene on the Ferris wheel is cool. Casting is letter perfect. Actress Shailene Woodley was born to play Beatrice. She looks comfortable in the role. Although co-star Theo James appears a little too old as her boyfriend Four, the two generate chemistry and that makes us care about them. "Titanic's" Kate Winslet plays the chief villain, and Jai Courtney of "Live Free: is appropriately sinister as Eric, who ranks above Four in the Dauntless hierarchy. Nothing about "Divergent" is remotely offensive, but its strong cast maintains our attention as does its futuristic designs.