I gotta say this: Divergent is not that bad

Rating: 7/10 (4 August 2014)

Just watched this film and, as I usually do with all movies, hopped on to IMDb to see what other people thought. And BOY, was I surprised!
All of these negative reviews are insane. I mean was the writing good? No. Was the acting Oscar- worthy? No. Was the premise rational? No.
I thought the writing was entertaining, it used many old tricks. The tricks that made you feel like the movies were magic when you were a kid. The storytelling was well-paced, and felt much more like an adventure movie than an intellectual sci-fi.
Speaking of which, I'm so underwhelmed by sci-fi films being all intellectual and sad and coldly existential. **** that ****! So what if the story itself wasn't particularly believable or filled with holes? At least the characters here have agency. At least they go out and rebel gloriously instead of spending two hours moping about, contemplating their incompetence and accepting the sad truth of reality. I mean what happened to the good old sci-fi fantasy flick anyways? People obviously love it, but is telling a fun adventure story full of holes suddenly not OK with the review hipsters anymore?
The acting was credible. People who say Shailene Woodley cannot act are out of their minds, she did a great job and was absolutely adorable, especially considering the script. Sure, every character was played in a way that at times was pretty annoying. But it was clear to me that this was intentional– as in intentionally annoying you for emotional fuel. Again, I think all the actors played their roles well in the context of the adventure template. The leads, even if they could not play whole characters (because of the script), accomplished admirably what was needed to move the story forward.
Which brings me to the premise. What makes a good sci-fi story worth our time? Is it a post- apocalyptic background setting where the zombies rose on Dec. 21 2015, spread by a rare virus strain incubated in the asses of mutated monkeys? Seriously who gives a ***!
All the pieces in the setup have major flaws, but they come together fine. They get the point across and I'd like to remind you critics that everything in the creative world is a simplification and reference to the infinite complexity of the real world. That is the whole point of movies and other creative mediums.
This is a teen fantasy adventure movie. It's about being different and not fitting into categories. It's about family, love, and courage.
It's entertaining, emotionally engaging, not particularly smart, and retells a classic story we've all heard/seen/read a thousand times. What's wrong about sticking to the basics?
6.5/10 (rounded up to spite the haters)