THE DIVERGENT SERIES: INSURGENT

★★★

PUTTING IT ALL AT STAKE

THEATRICAL REVIEW
By Jess Fenton
15th March 2015

First she was saving herself, now Tris Prior (Shailene Woodley) is saving everyone. Set only five days after the events of the first ‘Divergent’ film, Tris, Caleb (Ansel Elgort), Four (Theo James) and Peter (Miles Teller) have sought sanctuary within Amity while the rest of Dauntless are unknown. Haunted by Will’s death by her own hand, Tris is suffering from nightmares and the burden of secrets, putting a strain on her relationship with Four in an already tense situation. When Jeanine (Kate Winslet) uncovers a mysterious box from the old Prior home she seeks out every Divergent looking for the right one that can open it, at any cost. Finding reluctant allies with the Factionless, Tris and Four go after the other Dauntless so together they can create an army and take down Jeanine. But with new controlling devices employed and suicides occurring in order to flush out Tris, she questions making the ultimate sacrifice to save others.

With a lot more at stake and adopting the mindset of its protagonist, ‘Insurgent’ takes on a much darker and sinister tone than its predecessor. The motivation in this film is weak and muddled, but it chugs along nicely with lots of action, captivating sets, scenery and visual effects - plus Kate Winslet as the blonde megalomanic ice bitch is just perfection.

SWITCH: 'THE DIVERGENT SERIES: INSURGENT' TRAILER

Everyone in this series is just too damn pretty, for any society much less a dystopian one - but this is Hollywood, this is a YA franchise, and if we’re going to watch the young beat the crap out of each other we may as well have something good to look at while doing it. Relying too heavily of its VFX and not enough on thickening up that plot, the 119 minute running time is far too long and more than a few Sims too many.

The cast is still as strong as ever, made even stronger with the addition of Octavia Spencer and not one but two additional Australians, Naomi Watts and Keiynan Lonesdale - they’re simply let down by the “It’s okay, it will still make a $100 million” mentality. In true book to big screen style the next film - or should I say films - will be a two-part conclusion (from one book). With barely enough material to fill this movie, I worry about the next two, but only time will tell.

Fans will not be disappointed, nor will newcomers, if nothing else they will all be left wanting more, just not in the way you’d hope.

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