Narrow screenplay leaves many confused.

Rating: 6/10 (22 August 2014)

I had high expectations for this movie until I actually watched it. We are introduced to a world divided up into factions, each giving life and meaning to those who choose to be there. I had not read the book when I first saw the movie (my mistake) and found that I was completely lost through out the entire first 10 minutes of the film. The screenplay offers little to know back story and is extremely confusing to those who have never laid eyes upon Veronica Roth's series. I had to pause the movie and look up the basis of the plot before I could continue. Shailene, Theo, and Miles are all reputable actors however, once again (yes, I'm tired of saying it too) the screenplay was downright terrible and offered them little to nothing to work with. The director seemed to not grasp this and should've made changes while choosing which scenes to keep and which to cut, which was also another disappointment. We all know that you cannot condense EVERYTHING in a 300+ page novel into two hours, but they cut out some VERY pivotal scenes that could've provided a better opportunity for character development that seemed lacking. Theo being a fantastic actor seemed limited and a little two brooding or in the shadows than Four actually was in the novel. Even Miles! was outcast by some heavy-handed story telling. I am hopeful that Neil Burger will take this opportunity to up his future products, though I am glad Insurgent and Allegiant will have different directors.