Divergent

MY RATING: GOOD ONE-TIME CATCH

From the companies that brought you films from the disappointing Twilight Saga to the widely acclaimed Hunger Games Saga comes a new franchise based on a trilogy written by Veronica Roth. For starters, I felt that the movie was quite enjoyable despite the fact it was not everything I hoped it would be. It clearly could not compete with the likes of the Hunger Games films but I still felt  it was a good attempt at adapting Roth's thick, plot-heavy book for the big screen. 

Divergent is set in the dystopian future where people are categorised into five different factions based on their personality. Every 16-year old has to take an aptitude test to determine which faction they are best suited for, and eventually make their decision during the Choosing Ceremony. However, Beatrice Prior, born in Abnegation, found out that she possess qualities of more than one faction, making her "Divergent". Divergents are hunted in the society and thus we see her cope in the faction she eventually chooses, Dauntless, and struggle to keep her divergence a secret.

Every film has its good and bad and in this case I felt it was split quite equally. I felt that the story was well-paced but choppy at times,  and that the climax of the film was good but not impactful enough. The actors played their characters pretty well but I hoped there was actually better character development, especially for the supporting characters. However, I do like the action scenes in the film and the training sequences that changed Beatrice into a strong, confident and brave member of Dauntless.

Like I've mentioned earlier, the weakness of this film is probably the fact that it was unable to condense Veronica Roth's novel well enough for the story to appear smooth. There were many elements and characters in the book that the film failed to allude to and character development storyline appeared to have segments cut out. The relationship build-up between the two main characters also felt as if it skipped a few steps. 

Divergent isn't a great film, but it wasn't a bad film either. If you walk into the theatre hoping it would be like the Hunger Games films, I am pretty sure you would be deeply disappointed. But if you are looking for a good fantasy action film, Divergent would be what I could recommend.