Insurgent
It’s
better than the first one, but I thought the first one kinda stunk, so
don’t take that statement as too much of a compliment.
Shailene Woodley is back as Tris – the Divergent girl who might
be able to save this dystopian post-apocalyptic civilization
(it’s Chicago, but post-Rahm Emanuel) as the factions in her
world are on the brink of civil war. She’s on the run with her
boyfriend, Four (Theo James), Peter (Miles Teller), and her brother,
Caleb (Ansel Elgort), as the evil Jeanine (Kate Winslet) chases them
down and frames them for a horrible atrocity.
However, Jeanine isn’t looking to eliminate Tris. She believes
the young lady could be the key to opening a special box containing a
message from society’s forefathers that can bring peace among the
factions, with Jeanine serving as their undisputed leader (you
didn’t think the evil leader would do it for the good of the land
and people, did you?). Meanwhile, Tris and Four are looking to unite
the various factions to prove their innocence, and topple Jeanine
before she can execute her dastardly plan to rule the land.
Will Tris be able to evade Jeanine and her thugs?
What is the message in that box?
Insurgent is not the movie to see if you are
jumping into the Divergent series for the first time, but I
have a feeling you only care about Insurgent if you saw its
predecessor.
Director Robert Schwentke and the three person writing team (based on
the novel by Veronica Roth) don’t waste any time with a recap of Divergent.
Insurgent is off to the races from the get-go
with plenty of action sequences, even more angst for Tris and some
teenage love story stuff tossed in for the target audience.
In essence, Insurgent plays out like a pale imitation of The
Hunger Games complete with the same young adult novel/movie
formulaic elements. Many of these themes are as old as storytelling
itself, so you can’t fault the team for relying on the tried and
true classics spruced up with some modern special effects because they
have a lead actress who does everything she can to make it feel
important and revelatory for a new generation.
Woodley has some serious talent, but maybe she excels because the story
is much better on the more personal and smaller scale. Schwentke hints
at a larger, more epic tale beyond our heroine and the cute boy, but
it’s the stories about the heroine and the cute boy that work
best. The epic is alluded to, but the audience never gets to fully
investigate it and understand the larger forces at work.
However, our heroine’s battle for self assurance and inner
strength is the key to Insurgent. Woodley is very good at showing the
emotions tearing Tris apart, the self doubt that could be her downfall
and the power emerging from within as she learns more about the truth
and herself. She doesn’t need the formulaic action of cutting her
hair short to show us Tris means business! The actress does that all on
her own.
Some cool special effects help Insurgent visually impress the audience,
but it didn’t seem to be worth the price of a 3-D picture, which
is how I saw the movie. I think you can appreciate the visuals just
fine in 2-D.
Insurgent ends with the promise of a third
installment, which, to keep in the tradition of young adult novels
being turned into movies, will be broken up into two more films, but I
have to wonder where the story could take us for another four hours.
This one seems quite finished here.
Insurgent
is rated PG-13 for intense violence
and action throughout, some sensuality, thematic elements and brief
language.
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