Movie Reivew: Divergent

We have been spending so much time looking at new houses lately that we have been neglecting our duty to see movies in the theater! Now that it is summer time, the big blockbusters are starting to release. 

Last weekend we saw Divergent. I completely forgot to write a review for it. This movie has been out for a while and is on it’s way out of theaters. If you haven’t seen it yet, you might have to wait for it to come to Blu-Ray now. I’m sorry!

Divergent was a very good movie. I thought they did the book justice.  Before going in to this movie, I did not think Shailene Woodley would make a good Tris. I didn’t picture her like that at all, and I’m not a fan of the actress.  But she actually pulled it off fairly well.  I loved Theo James as Four.  He was perfect for the part and I think he played him really well.

I thought they did an amazing job setting up the relationship between Tris and Four. It didn’t feel forced. It felt like that spent enough time around each other getting to know each other, that when they finally realized they liked each other, it wasn’t forced.  This is usually lacking in book movies. Heck, lately, it even seems lacking in the books themselves.  I think they did a great job on it.

However, with that said, I feel like some of the other relationships were glossed over.  For instance, you didn’t really see Tris’s relationship with Christina form.  They talked a little and then were friends.  Several of the other initiates were introduced, but their relationships being transfers weren’t really explored.  A big thing that I think should have had more emphasis was the fact that Christina started dating Will.  This is a huge plot point that plays a big part in tensions in the next installment. If you paid really close attention, you would have guessed they were dating, but there was not much emphasis on it. Nor was the fact that Tris was actually friends with Will, which is important at the end of the story.  I also thought the scenes with Al went by a little fast – so I felt like since I read the book, I knew what had happened, but I felt like someone who hadn’t read the book might not get the effect that should have happened.

The action scenes were great in the movie.  Even the scenery was really good.  Veronica Roth must have done a very good job describing her world, because seeing it on screen was almost exactly what I pictured.

Though I will admit: it was hard to watch this movie knowing how the series ends.  While I will still go see subsequent movies, I will go see them when they are cheap, because I absolutely hated the ending to the series that comes with Allegiant.  However, Divergent was still a very good book, especially for a middle book.  I will just choose to give a different ending to Allegiant.  One that Veronica Roth should have given it, instead of the crappy ending she choose.

But reviewing this movie, it is definitely worth seeing, even if you haven’t read the books. And it just might inspire you to read them (just give it a different ending!)