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DVD Divergent
 Run time: 139 min Rating: 7.4 Genres: Action | Adventure | Romance Director: Neil Burger Writers: Evan Daugherty, Vanessa Taylor Stars: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Kate Winslet |
| Storyline Set in a futuristic dystopia where society is divided into five factions that each represent a different virtue, teenagers have to decide if they want to stay in their faction or switch to another – for the rest of their lives. Tris Prior makes a choice that surprises everyone. Then Tris and her fellow faction-members have to live through a highly competitive initiation process to live out the choice they have made. They must undergo extreme physical and intense psychological tests, that transform them all. But Tris has a secret that she is Divergent, which means she doesn’t fit into any one group. If anyone knew, it would mean a certain death. As she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, this secret might help her save the people she loves… or it might destroy her. Written by anonymous |
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| Plot Keywords: test, dystopia, train, simulation, number in character’s name | |
| Details: Country: USA Release Date: 4 April 2014 (UK) |
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| Box Office Budget: $85,000,000 (estimated) Opening Weekend: $54,607,747 (USA) (21 March 2014) Gross: $150,832,203 (USA) (4 July 2014) |
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4 comments
Divergent is gripping and intelligently brought to life on the big screen from the director who brought us "Limitless" and "The Illusionist." Are we seeing something of similar essence with the "Hunger Games" series? Yes. However, my personal take was that the characters were more engaging and the plot was as well in this film. Shailene is excellent at the helm, and really brings forth a convincing portrayal of a heroine battling in a world where chaos and tragedy envelope the characters. Her graceful emergence from shy personality to dominance is done artfully and really speaks to her ability as an actress. Theo James is also exceptional in the co-pilot role and almost effortlessly seems to pull off the bad boy with standards persona in a manner I haven't seen since Will Smith in his prime. The plot is high octane and especially more gritty than I first imagined. The emotion raw in intensity and empathic build. As a guy who was just going to this film to act as arm candy and a shoulder to lean on for my highly enthused girlfriend, I can write this piece while honestly saying that my eyes were glued to the screen the entirety of the film and was pleased to see this film do such an excellent job at developing both the plot and characters involved in it. Highly Recommend.
For some reason the rating is 7.7 with 1000s of data points, but the written reviews trash the movie — ignore them, the numerical score is accurate. I read the books and saw the movie and thought both were very good — not incredible, but good, deserving of 8 out of 10. One the key complaints is the same one you always hear when a movie is adapted to a book: how could they have not included scene/event/character x,y or z from the book? So and so does this in the book, but in the movie they do y. And so on. Give me a break. Does this really need to be repeated? You can't really convert a book perfectly into a 2 hour movie. You just can't. Characters get cut, shortcuts are made to the plot. Live with it or don't see the movie. Getting to the movie itself now. Yes, there are flaws and some logical missteps. But overall, the world that is created is visually appealing and interesting, the character (especially Woodley) do a good job, and the last portion, while a bit rushed perhaps, is engaging. I would say that the source material itself is not 10 out of 10 material, and the movie conforms to my rating — very good, but not a 9 or a 10. If you can get over the book/movie thing, you will enjoy this movie.
I watched the movie without having read any of the series, and yet, it is apparent that the movie did the books justice. I absolutely like how there is less romance and more substance this movie has compared to other similarly themed movies. The casting crew did a great job by choosing the lead actor and actress. The depth of the characters development is proper. Thus, this movie is also entertaining for adults. I sense good chemistry among the casts. The lead actress successfully portrays a confused yet brave teenager and captures innocence, while the lead actor renders a mature vibe that help save the movie from being categorized as another superficial teenage love story.
Seeing as how most adaptations of teen novels are rather horrible, I tried to keep my expectations low. I just knew that it wouldn't be as good as Hunger Games… Boy was I wrong!
From the beginning till the end I was hooked. I found the pacing just fine. The people who complain about it being too slow are just folks who want every movie to be action all the time. The movie has plenty of action, but it also has humor, romance, drama, philosophy, and just general dystopian ingredients.
The actors were phenomenal, the music — well, I for one am getting the sound track, the story is very relevant to our surveillance society, and the pacing of the story and editing was just perfect.
Along with Hunger Games, this has to be the best teen dystopian story on screen. I give it a 10, not because I think there were too many negative reviews, but because it frankly deserves a 10.