The internal system is broken. The shattered
factions are spread-out like refugees amongst the remaining factions. Tris (Shailene Woodley), Four (Theo James), Caleb (Ansel Elgort) and Peter (Miles Teller) are in Amity trying to reboot and recuperate. But their stay is not
long. Even the most patient people in their city begin to wear thin when their visitors' Dauntless instincts kick in. With Erudite elites flooding the speakers with
lies and troops of Dauntless traitors continue to massacre Divergents, it’s not
long until the truth must be set free.
The
Story
Much like the first film, Insurgent follows the storyline of its paperback counterpart. Divergent saw us in Abnegation and
Dauntless, Insurgent is set, firstly,
in Amity, followed by Candor and eventually, The Factionless. We meet each
faction’s head and see the way how they live and how unimportant they are to
the faction system and this entire storyline.
In Amity, Tris and her band are hunted down, with a dual betrayal from two members. In Candor, some
secrets spill out and Tris loses a friend. In the Factionless, more secrets are revealed. But at the
end of the day, viewers are always sent back to Erudite anyway – oh, where THE
BIGGEST SECRET is revealed. Now, I’m kind enough not to give spoilers, but for
those of you who’ve read the book, you know exactly what it is and will either
be overjoyed or overly disappointed – like me.
Overall, the story was pretty straightforward and
the action was somewhat believable.
The
Cast
Shailene Woodley, alright...I say this all the time about
Miss Woodley, but I think I have to say it again (not that she really cares):
she has no screen presence; there is nothing in this film that makes me believe her. Time
and time again throughout the film her co-stars outshine her. In saying that, I do tip my hat off to
Robert Schwentke, Brian Duffield, Akiva Goldsman, Mark Bomback and Woodley if having no screen presence was and is intentional in order for last two films to
make sense for non-readers, but COME ON! You’re the lead of one of the most read post-apocolytic-world book series after The Hunger Games – give
us something to believe, or at least like, or take you seriously as an actress.
Theo James at least is a less annoying Four than the
character that was written into the series at about this time in the second
book. I always felt that Four was somewhat emasculated by Tris after they
finally told each other that they “loved” each other or whatever it was in the
book. At least in this film, James kept his male bravado - regardless of his looks or muscular build, I mean they helped, but at least they were outshone by his acting.
Four’s mummy-issues was dialled down a lot more than I remember reading, which is good
and you really don’t see his daddy-issues here either. Again, my hat is tipped
for Schwentke, Duffield, Goldsman and Bomback if they’re setting it up for the
final films, because Four was not this dominant in the book and James was actually
likable.
Miles Teller is handsdown the shining star of
this film. Witty, funny and believable to the point of pity (that is, when Peter realises that Tris would spare his life if she got the chance), Teller outshone everyone, including Kate Winslet. I was more
interested in his character than anyone else’s and wished Roth had given him a
bigger role. Teller’s portrayal of a hated character was so on-point that Peter
became my favourite character – and that says a lot because I hated him in the
book. For his performance, I give Teller a standing ovation.
Kate Winslet, although she did not outshine Teller, did however steal the show for this film. Her strong screen-presence dominated the entire
plot and overwhelmed all who were seated in the theatre. She was so domineering
that I was on her side when the big reveal came out and was really angry about
the turn of events for her character at the end. Roses all around for Miss
Winslet.
Overall, like Divergent,
if you liked the book, you’ll like the film. That’s all I can say. I hated the
book, so I hated the film. It was really hard to say anything nice about this
film, but I will say that I’m looking forward to the (unnecessary) two-part
ending for Allegiant. No, not because (like the Twilight Saga) it’s about to end, but because this film has set up
the finale. I’m actually curious about how the last book will be adapted considering
how it was written.
Don’t know what I mean? rRead the last book. You
seriously don’t even need to read the first two books now that the films have
been released. You’re seriously not missing out on much.
Star
Rating: ★★★
Next
on sL:
Cinderella
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