Ari Rants/Reviews: Divergent (2014)

Good evening, dear readers!

I just got home from hanging out with a friend and watching Divergent – but this post isn’t going to be about that. I’ll share next time. However, this is going to be a babble/rant/review on Divergent. I’m not exactly sure where this fits in, but most likely it’s going to be some kind of rant + review thing, you know?

What frustrated me about Divergent, however, was the incredibly fast pace. In all seriousness, I like it when movies are fast. They give details and move on without lingering on other senseless plotlines. As for the film, however, it seemed to fast for me. They gave the details and did move on – exactly how I like it. Sadly, we weren’t really given the time to understand and accept what had just gone on.

Example being the death of Tris’ dad. He goes, shoots, dies. We, the audience, are given minimal time to grieve. Granted that all-out battle and whatnot is going on and that the story requires Tris to move quickly to stop the bad from happening, the fact that he’s merely ‘forgotten’ at the end of it makes me frown. I remember mentioning to my friend, “Oh hey so they defeat the baddies and then Tris seems to forget that outside the room, her dead dad’s lying there. Okay.”

Another thing I really didn’t like was the seemingly lack of connection between actor and character, specifically Four and Tris. Before anything, let me just say that Shailene Woodley’s actually a great actress, and that I bet Theo James is just as great. But…I just didn’t feel it, man. Between Four and Tris, Four seemed to be the stiffer of the two. (Did anyone laugh…no…just me? Okay.)

The romance seemed incredibly rushed, building up too fast, while in the book, you could practically feel the tension running through your veins. One of the finer scenes was the knife-throwing one where Four wounded the bit of Tris’ ear, but aside from that…it didn’t seem much. Even the tattoo-sharing scene was lesser than I expected.

Four’s portrayal was mildly disappointing; it was like he was a blank and cold stone with great tattoos, snark and a hidden personality that would have been great. Granted, the script could have played a role in this and Theo must have done his best to live up to it. Tris, on the other hand, I have less problems with. Shailene did a better job in my opinion, and at least I was able to feel her much more than I felt Four. That, and: damn, girl. I want your hair.

Another thing I feel is that the rules of the Divergent-verse weren't as well-defined and explained. I explained after to my mom that if she watched the film without knowledge of the book, she'd be pretty confused. Well. There was a girl behind me who was explaining a lot to her friend...whether it was plain curiosity or confusion, I wouldn't really know. 

Things I Would Have Appreciated:

·        More emphasis on the Will-Christina relationship

·        More emphasis on the Christina-Tris friendship

·         Edward getting his eye taken out by Peter
·         The other parts of Tris’ aptitude test
·         The Dauntless initiates who actually die on the first train ride
·         Uriah.

Things That Make Up For It:

·         Four’s fear landscape
·         Tris’ fear landscape (especially the water scene!)
·         Tris standing up to Erik
·         Occasional feels during Tris and Four’s scenes
·         The beauty of the tattoos showcased
·         The soundtrack, which is pretty damn amazing.

Overall verdict: As great as the action and romance gets, it doesn’t quite make up for the lack of emotional connection with the characters. However, this is the first out of three, and it can’t always be perfect. I hope that Insurgent will be nicely done (and keep up on the great soundtrack)! Here’s to next year’s Insurgent, and I hope that it’s going to be better.