Movie Review: Divergent

Now available on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD is the film Divergent. Divergent stars Shailene Woodley, Ashley Judd, Kate Winslet, Tony Goldwyn and Zoe Kravitz.

Divergent is set in the sometime in our future. The world is a much harsher place.

In order to keep the peace people are divided up into five different groups. Each group has it’s own functions. The groups get along peacefully with one another. The groups are known as factions.

• Abnegation – Selfless
• Amity – Peaceful
• Candor – Honest
• Dauntless – Brave
• Erudite – Intelligent

Each year teenagers that are of age are given an aptitude test to help determine which group they should join. They are given a special injection that helps the proctors see into their minds to help decide which factor they are best suited for based on their actions while sedated with the serum.

Young Beatrice (Woodley) and her brother both take the aptitude test to see which faction they should join. Their parents belong to the Abnegation factor. Once they make their final decision there is no going back.

Beatrice’s proctor is shocked to find that Beatrice has a rate thing called Divergence. Having Divergence means she carries traits for more than one faction. Divergence is frowned upon in their modern day society. The proctor tells Beatrice to choose the Abnegation factor.

At the Choosing Ceremony teens are able to make the ultimate decision as to which faction they want to join. Beatrice had to choose between staying with her parents and remain an Abnegation or choose her own destiny. If she chooses something other than Abnegation she’ll never see her parents again. Beatrice ends up choosing the Dauntless faction who serve as “peace keepers” of sorts (similar to police).

Just because Beatrice chose to join the Dauntless factor doesn’t mean she’s automatically a part of that group. There are a lot of physical and metal tests she needs to pass. If she fails to succeed she will become an outcast in society.

It would seem like everything is against Beatrice but people soon learn that she’s a lot tougher then she looks and she’s a force not to mess with.

Beatrice also has to learn to hide the fact that she has Divergence. If anyone found out she would be killed.

Will Beatrice succeed and become a part of the Dauntless group, or will her Divergence secret come out? To find out you need to pick up a copy of Divergent. Look for it where ever movies are sold.

I found the film to be entertaining and the special effects were really cool. I found myself a bit confused and lost at times. It was hard to keep track of the different factions and what their special qualities were.

This film reminded me a lot of The Hunger Games where people were divided into different groups. Also similar to The Hunger Games is the fact that the lead character is a strong female who can kick some serious butt.

If you like futuristic films you should enjoy this movie. This futuristic society seems more realistic then one run by alien creatures or relies on high tech weapons.

Who knew Shailene Woodley could pull of being an action hero. I still see her as the young girl from The Secret Life of the American Teenager.

I found it interesting that two of Shilene’s co-stars in this film also co-stared with her in other films – Miles Teller (The Spectacular Now) and Ansel Elgort (The Fault in Our Stars).

The film has an open ended ending, one where you can only guess what happens next. I believe they are shooting a sequel for this film so I am sure that film will answer some of the questions from this film.

I think I would have liked the movie more if I knew what was going on. As I mentioned earlier I was a bit lost when it came to the different factions.

There are A LOT of bonus features with the Blu-ray including audio commentary and deleted scenes.

There is a four part section called Bringing Divergent to Life. I found them to be interesting and help me to better understand the film. I especially liked the fourth featurette in this section (my apologies but I can’t remember the title of it – something with the word “final”). It shows how a lot of the cool special effects were done and why.

Also in the bonus section is a featurette called Faction Before Blood. This did a good job explaining the different factions and the need for such a system.

I should have watched the bonus features FIRST, then I would have understood the movie a bit better. I plan on watching the film again now that I understand the situation better.

Have you seen Divergent? What did you think of the film?

Here is the trailer for your enjoyment.

Kimberly

*I received a free screener copy in order to do this review. There was no compensation. The opinions expressed are my own and not influenced in any way.

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