YA Dystopia

Rating: 4/10 (23 July 2014)

This boneheaded blunt force allegorical tale about a teen with the ability to think with free will, which is dangerous in this dystopian society, is too derivative to swallow. Divergent is tailor made for the least discerning teen viewer, who likes their characters a bit less than one dimensional and their romances telegraphed with all the artistry of a daytime soap. The attempt to class up these proceedings with what amounts to an extended cameo by Kate Winslet backfires with her villainous role, that even she can't transcend with this cornball material.
Shailene Woodley barely registers as a presence, has no charisma and can't carry this film. She brings nothing to her role and you have to demolish suspension of disbelief to accept her as a young woman who can handle herself in action.
The effects are adequate, with the exception of a zip line sequence through some run down skyscrapers, that serves no narrative purpose but to show off some effects they didn't have the money to do correctly.
Running at about two hours and twenty minutes, Divergent begins with our main character having to make the most important decision of her life by choosing her faction - but there's no suspense or compelling material watching an undeveloped character go through this. The narrative then becomes an endless series of training sequences, before rushing into a last act that feels like an entire sequel condensed into a climax.
With so little substance, it's going to be an insurmountable task to make this a running series of films that won't be instantly crushed under the weight of its own flimsy premise.