Nice Blend of Action and Thought-Provoking Flick

Rating: 9/10 (5 April 2014)

Depending on your sensibility this review might contain a small scene spoiler and a plot-summary spoiler.
This is a top-notch flick you won't want to miss if you like action, a little romance, and something to talk over with your friends. Set in a post-apocalyptic Chicago, Tris (Shailene Woodley) and Four (Theo James)must find a way to survive in a dog-eat-dog world. Along the way the sparks of respect and affection begin to fly. The ruling regime of the time has decided to eliminate war and impose a social order by dividing people into five classes based on genetic and learned tendencies: dauntless, candor, erudite, amity and abnegation. As one comes of age, one takes a standardized test to learn where one belongs. You can follow the test results, or over-ride them with your own choice, but once you make your choice, you're stuck with living the rest of your life with the group you've chosen, even if that means leaving your family.
The familiar human mess drives the action with one ruling group trying to control all others, and there is the usual fear of rulers striving to eliminate people who think for themselves--so-called divergents--who use more than one approach to thinking and problem-solving. Some of the types get more explication, particularly the dauntless--thrill-seeking hyperactivity types--who have lots of courage and are groomed to be soldiers or police. Their first appearance gleefully jumping off a moving train and tumbling down an embankment is worth the price of admission alone. That scene cinematically captures in a few seconds the dauntless spirit in yourself and your friends who have a big dose of it.
Woodley and James are sympathetic characters you can't help but love, the action is top-notch, and you're left afterwards with the puzzle of asking yourself how do the five tendencies rank in me? Am I a dauntless first and then an erudite or amity? Candor or abnegation? That's what makes the movie especially fun--you can rank yourself, your spouse, your date and/or your friends and compare notes. You can play around with your own character analysis or with your friends' over a drink or pizza when it's over. Don't miss it and have fun talking it up after!