Divergent

 DIVERGENT

Director : Neil Burger
Year : 2014
Genre : Fantasy thriller
Rating : **1/2

Based on the hugely popular series of novels by Veronica Roth, 'Divergent' is yet another film in the very long line of dystopian thrillers that have at their core a strong ideology of rebellion and revolution. Directed by Neil Burger and starring Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Zoe Kravitz, Jai Courtney and Kate Winslet, the film tells the high concept story of a girl who overcomes crippling oppression to lead a rebellion against the tyrannical and murderous government that threatens the safety of her people. Despite it's high budget, strong cast and the directorial eye of the very talented Neil Burger, the movie quickly outstays it's welcome with a running time of over 2 and a half hours; a running time that is drawn out by it's meandering screenplay, under developed side characters and a story that we all have all seen a billion times before. Woodley is very charismatic in her lead role and Theo James provides the picture with a good amount of much needed energy and charisma and as a pair their two performances elevate the movie from being a total dud but when put shoulder to shoulder against other recent dystopian thrillers such as 'Oblivion', 'Equilibrium' and 'The Hunger Games' franchise, 'Divergent' falls pretty flat.

Set in a post Apocalyptic Chicago, 'Divergent' tells of a time when war and violence has ceased to be thanks to a divided society; a civilisation separated by each individuals virtues, skills and qualities. These divisions are Abnegation (selflessness), Erudite (well spoken), Amity (friendship), Candor (honesty) and Dauntless (strength and bravery) and each one has a special role to play in the stabilisation and maintenance of peace and order. When aged 16, each person must enter the Choosing Ceremony, a special initiation where a boy or girl chooses which division he/she wants to be a part of for the rest of their lives. 

Before choosing their sector, each individual is injected with a strange serum which allows examiners and those of a higher order to detect their strengths, weaknesses and fears; therefore allowing them to recommend which division will suit them best. Beatrice Prior (Woodley) may seem like any other normal 16 year old but when she takes the compulsory aptitude test to determine which way her life should be played out, something goes wrong. Failing to give a definite reading, Beatrice is told by the examiner that she is 'divergent'; a rare type of person who has more than one definable quality and therefore is seen as a threat to the oppressive government (led by a completely shoehorned Kate Winslet). Armed with this knowledge, Beatrice chooses the division of Dauntless (the sector of strength and bravery) to learn the skills she needs to defend herself when the ruling council discovers her life threatening secret. 

Much like Neil Burger's previous film 'Limitless', 'Divergent' is full of eye popping special effects and inventive camera work. Setting the film in monotone greys and whites, Burger swiftly develops an ambience of poverty and decay and this gives the picture an air of impending catastrophe and unforeseen tragedy which really helps to ante up the underlying danger and threat felt throughout. However, while the film may look impressive with the CGI helping to bring Veronica Roth's apocalyptic vision to the screen, 'Divergent' is constantly undermined by it's plodding narrative and characters which are either not particularly memorable or are just plain unidentifiable. As mentioned earlier Shailene Woodley does a very good job of carrying the film and her very likable performance acts as an anchor which keeps our attention, even when the film goes off on unbelievable and frankly ridiculous flights of fancy. She brings a lot of emotional depth to her character and her physicality is on view for all to see in the exciting and well choreographed fight scenes (of which there are many). Unfortunately while definitely watchable, her performance is so reminiscent of Jennifer Lawrence's Katniss Everdeen that it doesn't really come across as fresh and exciting. Rather more recycled and been there done that. As I say, this is not due to her acting talents but due to the hand me down and the so-similar-to-'The Hunger Games'-that-it-hurts narrative that she is working with.

Sadly, her accomplished performance is really the only thing that I could recommend about 'Divergent'. There are some set pieces which look quite good on the big screen and Burger's trademark directorial style does provide moments of visual splendour but at the end of the day it's characters are cut out and keep archetypes, the story is absolutely nothing special and the plot of the oppressed rising over a pseudo - fascist government has been done so many times now in movies that it has lost all power or scabrous social commentary. 'Divergent' may have had some cultural significance 10 years ago. Now it just seems old, stale and very, very tired.