Following in the footsteps of Twilight and The Hunger Games; Divergent becomes the latest Young Adult book to be adapted for film. Review after the jump.
Divergent takes place in the future following a devastating war leaving most of the world inhabitable. Chicago is now surrounded by huge walls and the way of life has been changed drastically – people are segregated into different factions according to their personality; such factions as Abnegation, Candor, Amity, Erudite and Dauntless.
Beatrice (Shailene Woodley) was born by parents from the Abnegation faction but she yearns to be a member of Dauntless. The Dauntless are basically fearless and we are shown this by them running around everywhere while shouting and then climbing. Yes, there may be stairs leading up to a train platform, yet the Dauntless crew would rather climb pillars in order to reach that destination. Fearless? Maybe. Stupid? Certainly.
Beatrice is asked to take a test in order to find out which faction she should be put in, which happens to all of the humans once they reach sixteen years of age. Her test results prove inconclusive – meaning that she is a rare being called Divergent. The Divergents are hunted and killed due to the governing body believing they can’t be controlled and are dangerous. In fact, this takes up the first half hour of the film and plays out like an over-extended version of the sorting hat scene in Harry Potter. 
Divergent is aimed for female teenagers and most of the film is as ludicrous as the idea behind the factions. Woodley plays the role of Beatrice – an often timid little soul trying to fit in – efficiently, as does Theo James as her instructor Number Four. What does get our back up a little is the under usage of Kate Winslet. Winslet is certainly one of the better female acting talents in the world, yet she is seen little and when she is on screen, her character is lacking any emotion at all. This is not Kate’s fault, more the material she has been given to work with.
Other actors involved in the film are Jai Courtney as another instructor, Ashley Judd and Tony Goldwyn as Beatrice’s parents.
Some of the action scenes in Divergent look good and there isn’t as much romance and emotional scenes as one would expect from a film like this, yet the movie does take itself seriously when really it is all rather silly.
Divergent is the first instalment of a planned trilogy. I am absolutely certain that the film will do exceptionally well in the box office, but let’s hope the series improves in the sequel.
Overall Thoughts:
Divergent is very silly but teenagers (especially females) will likely lap it up. Woodley makes for a likable lead, whilst Winslet is wasted.
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