Doesn't Rise Above Contemporaries (From An Adult Perspective)

Rating: 4/10 (28 February 2017)

Whenever most books or films are made for the young adult audience, there are certain "benchmarks" that need to be hit in order to appeal to the target audience (e.g. attractive actors, romance, angst, simple concepts). While those benchmarks make those works extraordinarily popular for that target audience, they also limit the book or film's appeal to a broader population. That is why, at least for me (28-year old male), "Divergent" was just an "okay" movie.
For a basic plot summary, "Divergent" tells the story of Tris (Shailene Woodley), a teenage girl living in a future society where each person must choose from a prescribed list of professions upon a certain date. There is an aptitude test that helps determine which profession one should tend towards. The trouble with Tris, however, is that her test comes up "divergent", meaning that her brain doesn't focus on just one of the areas. This is something that must be hidden, as it is looked down upon and may make her a danger to government officials like Jeanine (Kate Winslet). Choosing a profession that is somewhat surprising, Tris makes the transition to a soldier-type life, where she meets Four (Theo James), a superior who is tough on her but also shows an interest in her well-being.
I liked the framework upon which the plot of this movie is built (I've never read the book, so I really can't make comparisons). Every high school student has taken a "which career should I choose?" test, so the concept is very relate-able. The whole "what to do next in life" is something we can all relate to, young adults probably more than anyone.
The problem, though, is that "Divergent" tries to cram a lot of things into a relatively small (2 hours, 15 minutes) package. There's drama, action, romance, political intrigue, big ideas...a little too much to focus on making one or two areas really, really good. For example (minor spoiler ahead), there is one character death in the movie that is supposed to be a very sad, emotive moment. However, because the relationships hadn't been developed well enough up until that point, it just kind of falls flat.
Contemporary films like "Hunger Games" and "The Giver" (both films that I enjoyed) do a better job of "camouflaging" the young adult aspects (though not omitting them, obviously) in order to appeal to a broader audience. "Giver" pulls not punches that it is a concept-driven film first and foremost, while "Hunger Games" (like the book series) doesn't get into the real angst-y, drama stuff until later on in the series. Thus, I felt like "Divergent" takes the action of the Hunger Games and the concepts of The Giver and combines them to produce...an inferior product of that melding.
"Divergent" isn't a bad movie but any stretch of the imagination. It has a decent plot, the action always moves forward, and drama is present. It just won't captivate audiences beyond its target range of teenagers.