The Divergent Series: Allegiant

Starring: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Ansel Elgort, Jeff Daniels, Ray Stevenson, Zoe Kravitz, Miles Teller, Mekhi Phifer, Octavia Spencer, Maggie Q, Keiyan Lonsdale, Naomi Watts, Daniel Dae Kim
Directed by: Robert Schwentke
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Adventure, Science Fiction, Thriller
2016

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Tris (Shailene Woodley) and Four (Theo James) move beyond the wall in Chicago to uncover what lies beyond.

Review:

Tim: The Divergent series has fallen flat. Allegiant is about on par with the second movie, but I'd still place this film last in the trilogy. This franchise's fortunes have turned so quickly- this movie made significantly less than the last two. In fact, the big rumor recently is that Lionsgate is going to forego a theatrical release for the proposed fourth film and do a TV movie instead. It's hard for me to believe that's where this is going- you've asked audiences to invest in this story for three movies now, how can you not conclude it on the big screen? It'll be fascinating to see what happens.

Another big lesson to be learned here is that the trend of breaking the third book in a trilogy into two movies should be dead and buried. It's an obvious cash grab, and it results in the penultimate movie feeling like an unfinished product. It might have worked for Harry Potter, but it didn't work for Twilight, The Hunger Games, and especially Divergent. I will say that this movie feels less like a filler movie than many of those others, but it's not exactly the most memorable, exciting film, either. It felt like an average story. I was experienced outright boredom, but I was never fully engaged, either. The script felt a little lazy in places and falls into the tired cliche route too many times. A surprising number of major characters are killed off, but no one seems too broken up about it. It felt like no one tried too hard with the script. It was like this movie was geared exclusively to the young adult audience, without any attempt to appeal to more discerning viewers. That's never a recipe for success. Harry Potter certainly had a key demographic, but those movies were presented in a way that could appeal to everyone. That's not the case here- if you think at all about the story, the characters, or their actions, you're going to find a myriad of plot holes.

In some ways, I suppose this film did further the story. We find out what's outside the wall around Chicago. The revelation was fine, but it wasn't overly exciting or surprising. It gave this movie a slightly different feel since the world was broadened, but that doesn't help the end quality as much as you might expect. Everything here felt done before and the movie had nothing to offer creatively. It was hard to get excited about anything on screen.

I do like Shailene Woodley, but it felt like she was phoning this one in a bit. Or maybe it was everyone around her, I don't know. She was fine, but she seemed to lack the energy to will this into a better movie. She shows up and does her job, and it's all okay. Theo James continues to be one of the best parts of these movies, although he had less to do here than I'd like. His conflict with Tris felt forced and contrived. His story in this film was lackluster. Miles Teller continues to feel totally out of place- his character doesn't make sense and it's obvious Teller isn't all that interested in being in these movies. Ansel Elgort had a bit more to do, but his character isn't very interesting. I liked the addition of Jeff Daniels to the cast, but he has an obvious role and doesn't have much to work with. Naomi Watts and Octavia Spencer continue to be underutilized. The cast here is decent, but the script really hampers them.

While I really liked Divergent, Insurgent and now Allegiant were both lackluster films. Any excitement I might have had about this franchise is pretty much exhausted. It'll be fascinating to see how they handle the supposed fourth movie. They owe audiences a proper conclusion, right? Whether that is on television or in theaters, and whether the cast sticks around will be intriguing questions. Any way you slice it, though, this is a franchise that has fallen on hard times in a shockingly quick period of time. I hope Hollywood is watching and learning from this (they probably aren't, or aren't learning the right lessons. It'll be something stupid like "female-led movies don't work!").

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



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