I’m having trouble taking the cinematic version of the Divergent series seriously. Part of this difficulty is that Divergent wasn’t good enough to commit to memory; part of it is what I do remember doesn’t jive entirely with what I’m seeing and a third and very strong part is this is silly.
Did nobody in the little Divergent world notice that Abnegnation no longer exists? You guys must have noticed that Erudite is now in charge, right? I mean, it can’t have gone amiss that you’re all now taking orders from Titanic girl, can it? I see the propaganda within the rubble, but, um, it was incomplete — how exactly did you explain this? “Yeah, that Divergent girl … she killed everybody in Abnegnation, including her parents; she’s really, like, disturbed and stuff. You should probably be on the lookout for her.” How stupid do you think the masses are?
And that explains, sort of, why Tris (Shailene Woodley), Four (Theo James), Caleb (Ansel Elgort) and Peter (Miles Teller) and hangin’ with the hippies (“Amity”) at the start of the film. Um, when did these four get together? When did they arrange a deal with the hippies? This is my favorite part, actually – Ansel Elgort (The Fault in Our Stars) and Miles Teller (Whiplash) both had very successful 2014s. So much so that both showed up at the Oscars in February. And yet, when these three boys get together on screen, Theo — the one who certainly did not receive an Oscar invite– is the alpha. Guys always recognize an alpha.
Half the plot is getting them together so we can say things like, “hey, it’s that douchey guy from Project X,” –weren’t they all douchey in Project X?– and then we have to split them apart just so Tris can have some Four-play. Pun completely intended.
To see Insurgent, you kind of have to have seen Detergent Divergent to understand what’s going on. But just in case you really dig short-hair Shailene and can’t stand traditional Shailene (and I can’t blame you for that one), lemme ‘splain – dystopian future. People, for the sake of “harmony,” have been separated into their dominant traits – Erudite, Abnegnation, Amity, Candor and Dauntless. (I gave my thoughts on these groupings last review) These traits are so dominant that, apparently, they don’t mix. Ex. There is no Candor AND Dauntless (The Muhammad Ali syndrome). Each group plays a specific role in this society – Amity are the farmers, Dauntless are the cops. All those who show a mix of traits are called “Divergent” and represent a danger to society. Tris is queen of the Divergents and managed to break society by the end of the first movie right after the Erudites Manchurian-Candidated the Dauntless to kill all the Abnegnation. We good?
The questions are obvious. My two most pressing ones are – why do you think a power-structure bifurcation based on dominant genetic trait segregation would lead to harmony? Why would anyone promote a society where intellect is bred in isolation deliberately avoiding tempering characteristics? Intellect without bravery, kindness, truth, or selflessness? That describes the greatest monsters in human history.
But hey, that’s just me, I guess.
Anyway, the dudes who fail the written become “Factionless,” the society homeless, ain’t that sweet? Just so happens that Four’s mom (Naomi Watts) is head of the Factionless. Yes, these folks have no role in society, but somehow Naomi can afford a penthouse with a guest room just in case her son and his hot friend like to drop in and get all Divergent and stuff.
After that, the pair get abducted by Candor just so Candor can say they showed up in this film. Seriously, what is the point of Candor, anyway? A large part of grown up life is learning when not to say anything, or at least when to temper your words. Here’s a group of adult 4-year-olds. How 
could anybody live with any of them? And how do they not just walk around saying, “that Jeanine (Kate Winslet) is a real psychopath, huh?” “I agree. Thank you for your candor.”
The first hour here is little more than a reintroduction to the Divergent world. Basically, Tris and Four want to get an army together to challenge the Erudites; Jeanine needs to capture a Divergent so he/she can open up this magic X-Box. Bet you can’t see where this is going, huh?
Insurgent is one of those films where the opposition is exactly as strong as it needs to be for any given scene. We need the rebellion to be quelled here? Done. We need the rebellion to infiltrate without resistance? Done. I like Shailene Woodley, but this Katniss tack is not the best use of her talents. The Divergent series isn’t bad, but it isn’t good, either; there seems little reason to make a third other than it will make money.
A is for Amity, who needs that noise?
B is for Battle, with Tris and her boys
C is for Candor, with truth, you are lost
D is for Dauntless, who pay every cost
E is Evelyn, Factionless is her reign
F is for Four, Tris’ ill-named swain
G is for Greedy, Kate is all you fear
H is for Hooray! No more for a year.
Rated PG-13, 119 Minutes
D: Robert Schwentke
W: Brian Duffield, Akiva Goldsman and Mark Bomback
Genre: Our screwed future
Type of person most likely to enjoy this film: Those who need methadone between Hunger Games flicks
Type of person least likely to enjoy this film: Intellectuals without empathy
