Not Bad of Its Type

Rating: 6/10 (13 January 2015)

Another 'Young Adult' sci-fi action romance flick. As with all the others, let me state upfront I haven't read the books on which this is based, nor do I intend to. I don't have any knowledge of spoilers from the books. I'll just assume the movie follows them for the most part but changes some things here or there. That's usually the case. At any rate, without having read the books, I can say this movie is not as original as it seems to believe it is. It borrows liberally from several sources. Among them is Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World." But most of it is just following the predictable YA formula. Young woman, pretty but not intimidatingly so, is the 'chosen one' to change the world or some such. Along the way she falls in love with a guy who's just too dreamy for words. It's funny how in these things the girl is always supposed to be something of a plain Jane but the guy has to be a heartthrob. I'm sure someone has written about the hypocrisy of that since men are always criticized for being shallow and thinking about looks first with regards to women...but I digress.
The cast does well, with Shailene Woodley (one of Hollywood's much-hyped rising stars of late) doing a fine job. Theo James only has to look handsome so it's to his credit he can actually act. Kate Winslet plays the obligatory corrupt government leader villain. I assume she was paid well. Ashley Judd and eyebrowless Tony Goldwyn play Woodley's parents. Thankless roles for both, really. The performance I enjoyed the most was Zoë Kravitz as Woodley's friend. Sadly, she largely disappears in the second half of the movie. Anyway, there no impressive action sequences or special effects to speak of. It's not that what's there is bad, just that nothing stood out to me. After the movie was over, I didn't say "Wow remember that scene" or anything like that. Still, I don't regret watching it and I will likely watch the inevitable sequels. As far as these types of movies go, it was decent.