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Monday, March 31, 2014

Movie Review: Divergent

Divergent (2014)
Director: Neil Burger
Writers: Evan Daugherty (screenplay), Vanessa Taylor (screenplay)
Stars: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Kate Winslet
139 min
Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi
21 March 2014 (USA)
In a world divided by factions based on virtues, Tris learns she's Divergent and won't fit in. When she discovers a plot to destroy Divergents, Tris and the mysterious Four must find out what makes Divergents dangerous before it's too late.

just added this pic because...duh!

Went to see Divergent with the husband and 12 year old daughter. None of us have read the book. Over all the whole family really enjoyed the movie. The premise was interesting and there was enough action and suspense to keep me watching. There were parts that were drawn out a bit too long like a gaze lasting too long or a quiet reflection we could have done without. I don’t know how big a part the romance plays in the book, but I was glad it wasn’t a big focus of the movie. They were definitely going for the dystopian feel. But the other side of that blade is Tris and Four went from wistful gazes to “I love you” pretty quick. And I could nit-pick the bejeezus out of the world building, but my guess is a lot of details had to be left out from the book so I don’t hold that against the movie.



The movie did nail the characters journey from the fear and hopelessness to the triumph and courage like you would expect in a dystopian story.

I liked all the characters: Kate Winslet played a terrific bitch, Theo James (sigh) was a fun brooding hero and while I had a hard time accepting Shailene’s innocent wide eyed cover-girl face, Tris is a strong and realistic female character. She was given no slack because she was a girl in the Dauntless training and even though she got beat the hell up by some of the boys, she used her brains to her advantage and not some superpowers to overcome the odds.
first kiss scene here, yeah, can't say I blame her

Do you need to see it on a big screen? No, but if you want to get out of the house and enjoy the theater experience then it is worth a matinee price.

3.75 “Diverging” Sheep





Sharon Stogner

7 comments:

  1. good review - I was planning to skip it but think we might red box it now ;)

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  2. I haven't read this series. I suppose I should. Read Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments series (stopped after the third book, though) and that movie did ... well, didn't do great. Sounds like this one holds up.

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  3. Got the first book for the husbnd as he likes this kind of scifi too--I call this still post apocalyptic--like Mad Max stuff--though now it is now called dystopian.

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  4. Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us. I enjoyed the movie and it was definitely enriched by having read the book for me. I thought it was very interesting the Veronica Roth was a co-producer of the film and I think that might have had a bit to do with the enhancement of the novel. As is the norm there was missing of course, but overall I think it was a good representation, and I almost enjoyed it more than the book - blasphemy to some I know LOL

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  5. Might be a good movie for my stepdaughter, I don't know if she has read the books or not. Not sure I want to see it, dystopian is really not my genre.

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  6. It's a really great movie and a great book, I really recommend you reading it :) (although if your daughter wants to read it, I'd suggest you read it first because it does have some graphic things.) my mom suggested the book to me and I was absolutely hooked :D

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