The Divergent Series: Insurgent

Starring: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Ashley Judd, Kate Winslet, Jai Courtney, Ray Stevenson, Zoe Kravitz, Miles Teller, Mekhi Phifer, Octavia Spencer, Maggie Q, Naomi Watts, Tony Goldwyn, Daniel Dae Kim, Ansel Elgort
Directed by: Robert Schwentke
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Adventure, Science Fiction, Thriller
2015

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Tris (Shailene Woodley) and Four (Theo James) continue their battle against the forces that want to dominate their society and exterminate all opposition.

Review:

Tim: After being very surprised by how much I enjoyed Divergent, I was intrigued to see the sequel. I still don't fully know what the title of the movie is. I prefer Insurgent but most of the things I saw called it The Divergent Series: Insurgent. Sigh. Anyway, despite being excited about this movie, it represents a fairly substantial drop in quality. This movie is what I expected the first one to be- decent, but certainly not especially good. The excitement for this franchise I felt after the first movie was very much cooled off by this inferior sequel.

Now, while I have many complaints, I do want to stress that this is a perfectly fine movie. It advances the story of Tris and Four while not completely rehashing the original. It features some interesting sequences and surprised me with a cool twist at the end of the film. There's a few tense moments and some interesting use of simulation that causes you to think twice about what is reality through the movie. There's definitely positives sprinkled throughout the film- there's no doubt about that.

On the issues side, a big complaint I had was that the film was so predictable. Before the surprise revelation at the end, the movie plodded along exactly as you expected it to. The simulations were telegraphed a mile away. There wasn't really anything that kept you on your toes. Even when the movie featured good moments, they came across in the most predictable way. Was there any doubt in anyone's mind that Tris was (MINOR SPOILER) going to turn herself in at some point? So many aspects of this script felt completely played out. That really bothered me. There also seemed to be dozens of plot holes riddling the landscape of the film. It seemed like several few minutes, I wanted to ask a sarcastic question or roll my eyes at something on screen. The film just never felt particularly believable or well thought out. I've never read the books but I know the script departed from them. Perhaps that wasn't a great idea? I don't know, but something went amiss that resulted in a lackluster film.

I thought the cast was good, but they just had less to work with. Shailene Woodley was fine in the lead role. She does have this everywoman quality that helps audiences identify with her. It was a bit hard for me to believe the fight scenes with her- she just seems so small and fragile. It's hard for me to believe she could really hold her own against anyone. Theo James was good, although he just doesn't have as interesting of things to do here. It did feel like this movie caused his character to take a step back, which doesn't benefit the film. Miles Teller seemed to phone his performance in (it's no secret he doesn't love making these movies). Jai Courtney was a little less menacing here. Kate Winslet continues to make a surprisingly good villain. I also enjoyed the addition of Naomi Watts, playing an ambiguous character quite well. Ray Stevenson is barely in the film. I did enjoy the addition of Daniel Dae Kim in a small supporting role. The cast is large, and even when they don't all get adequate screen time or sufficiently exciting things to do, they still represent one of the big strengths of this film.

The Divergent Series: Insurgent is a perfectly decent teenage-focused dystopian movie. While not terrible, this entry clearly drops it a level lower than The Hunger Games, which has managed to deliver at least good movies every time out thus far. Insurgent gets close, but I couldn't call this a truly good movie- it's far too flawed, far too predictable, and far too simple. Director Robert Schwentke has made some solid films, but I can't help but wonder if the departure of original director Neil Burger was a bad move. Schwentke is back for the next movie, so let's hope they figure out what went wrong here and correct it in the 3rd film.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Divergent, The Hunger Games, The Maze Runner, Harry Potter, The Fault in Our Stars