The Marshmallow Soul

Rating: 6/10 (13 May 2014)

'A war has left a dystopian world where people are divided into distinct factions based on human virtues. Tris Prior, born into one of the five factions has the desire to be in another. Each faction provides something essential to the whole society and the premise was created in order to preserve peace. Before her switch she is warned she is Divergent and won't conform to one but rather to all factions and that resistance to conform to a singular faction makes her dangerous to the faction system. Now Tris must learn to trust in the mysterious Four (a guy, not four people) and together they must find out what makes being Divergent so dangerous before it's too late.'
Separating society into different factions that are based on basic, yet strong, personality character traits is the beginning of a spectacular premise but somehow the film that is likened to "Twilight" and "Hunger Games" (girl-in-love-teen-book) sits sadly in the middle. When the political intrigue and dystopic world fascination is juxtaposed with a girls love crush, the intrigue and fascination dwindles.
A montage of the training may have served my impatience well as the pace at which the initiation was delivered was excruciating to sit through. Although initiation/training is meant to be excruciating, therefore the pace served the story, it still left the viewer waiting. Waiting for the inevitable.
How does one review a film that has many great aspects? The soundtrack is awesome, the visuals are fresh, the story is captivating, Ashley Judd is compelling, the action is fluid, setting is interesting and I want to become completely enamoured with this world but I'm not. If my interest could be measured it would have peaked in the opening, hit a rock bottom by the end of act one, remaining there till the middle of the second, and hitting 'mildly-entertaining' by the end. And this is the movie's down fall – it starts off on its highest note possible, the story of factions. From there the story starts to show its true fluffy and fake, marshmallow soul and one that's infuriating to sit through. And the fact that the best bit is garnered from the first ten minutes of a two and a half hour movie I am pretty sure disappointment is right up there with the most important things one would feel after sitting through a screening of "Divergent".
I'm not saying it's a bad film but please, I beg and plea; don't make me watch it again