Slow, But Captivating

Rating: 7/10 (28 October 2014)

What would you do if you didn't truly fit in to any group in your society? What about if the group you choose you belong to does not include your family? What if you unraveled a secret plan that was created to destroy people just like you? This is exactly what Tris must go throughout the film Divergent. In a world where people are divided into factions based on human virtues, Tris Prior is forewarned she is Divergent and will never fit into any one of these factions. When she discovers a conspiracy by a faction leader to destroy all Divergents, Tris must learn to trust a complicated character, Four, and together they must stop this faction leader from destroying the Divergents before it's too late.
Walking into my town's local movie theater to watch Divergent, I didn't know what to expect. Not having read the book, I was a little bit skeptical going in. Many people raved about the book, but watching the previews on television, I wasn't very impressed. I thought it was going to be one of those film adaptations that people generally weren't really satisfied with like Twilight. I was wrong. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the film. Maybe not having the book to compare it to helped with my enjoyment, but coming from my perspective, it was better than I expected it to be. The advancement of the film's plot may have started out a little slow and was a bit confusing for those of us who have not read the book, but by the end, I fortunately understood what was happening and where they were going from there.
I was impressed with how the actors and actresses developed their characters throughout the film. They showed us, the audience, who these characters were and were able to portray their personalities while the plot of the film developed further. Going along with that, the plot took a little bit to get going and capture my interest. The entire time while watching the film, I was wondering when the 'divergent' part was going to come in, and it didn't truly show itself until close to the end. Having the book and film called Divergent, I was hoping for a little more insight into what being divergent meant.
I've always been a big supporter of music in films and its importance and Divergent didn't let me down. I thought the music choices for this film were spot on. Each song supported the scene it was matched with perfectly. The music kept the general feel of the film moving forward despite the slow moving plot. It was a more modern type of film, so the use of "new" sounding music made the film more believable.
Overall, I was pretty satisfied with the film. Of course there are things that I disliked about it, but that goes for anything. I was certainly pleased with the final product created by the collaboration of director Neil Burger, author Veronica Roth and screenplay writer Evan Daugherty. I am looking forward to see what the next two movies have to offer.