Been there, done that

Rating: Null/10 (21 March 2014)

The opening scene shows a familiar post-apocalyptic city labeled as Chicago, inviting the audience's expectation of Mad-Max-ish fodder. But something does not look quite right – the city is not in complete rabbles, but instead has more than half of the skyscrapers still in good conditions. Then we see people, crowds we expect to see in a normal big city, carrying on with life in orderly, civilized manner. This is made possible, as we are told, because of the wall, which immediately reminds me of "Warm Bodies" (2013) in which a similar wall (in nature if not in grandeur) keeps out zombies. What THIS wall keeps out is unknown, even at the end of the movie (at least to those who have not read the books), setting up the scene for future installments.
Inside the city we have an orderly post-war world where human beings are divided into 5 factions living in harmony, at least superficially: Abnegation (selfless), Erudite (intelligent), Dauntless (brave), Amity (kind) and Candor (honest). At coming-of-age, protagonist Tris (Shailene Woodley), originally from Abnegation, goes through the mandatory character test which helps (but not dictates) which faction to choose. Following the motto "faction before blood", once the choice is made, the individual leaves family behind, unless it happens to be in the same faction as chosen.
The complication in Tris's case is that the test is inconclusive, marking her as a "Divergent", a rare non-conformist considered a danger to the entire community, usually hunted down and exterminated. The kind-hearted test administrator (Maggie Q) suppresses the damning revelation, rendering it possible for Tris to exercise her choice just like everybody else. She opts for Dauntless, leaving her model family of loving parents and brother (who similarly chooses Erudite).
The longest sequence of the movie, Tris's painful (in more ways than one) training and ultimate acceptance into Dauntless, is predictability institutionalized. That is not to say that it is incompetently rendered, but just reflects my summary line. Most important, she meets Four (yes, his name and I don't know if there is any connection to Number Four in "I am Number Four") (Theo James) the good guy in the pair of good-trainer-bad-trainer, with predictable developments.
At 139 minutes, this movie is too long. The two leads are competent, action-adequate and very good to look at. You can't help but wish, however, that Woodley has more material to work with, remembering her Golden Globe nominated role as George Clooney's character's daughter. Two stellar supports, Ashley Judd playing Tris's mother and Kate Winslet playing the ambitious Erudite leader, are welcomed additions but their roles are somewhat lacking in dimensions.
I note that just like the various YA adapted movies before it, "Divergent" sequel installments are already in pre-production. Although I won't be exactly holding my breath to discover what the wall tries to keep out, I'll probably watch them, if only because they are not in 3D (hopefully).