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| Theo James and Shailene Woodley |
Wes's Grade: C-
Slick but insipid "Divergent" mostly for fans of the book series
After seeing the bland, repetitive "Insurgent," the second and disappointing installment of "Divergent" series, I'm hoping that sometime in the near future that moviegoers will tire of the whole YA dystopian movie-franchise thing and move on to something else. When the best thing about the movie is the lead's haircut, then you know the movie is in trouble. Tris (Shailene Woodley) and Four (Theo James) are now fugitives on the run, hunted by Jeanine (Kate Winslet), the leader of the power-hungry Erudite elite. Racing against time to save their faction, they must find out what Tris's family sacrificed their lives to protect, and why the Erudite leaders will do anything to stop them. Directed by Robert Schwentke ("Red," "Flightplan") and co-written by Brian Dufffield, Akiva Goldsman and Mark Bomback and based on Veronica Roth's popular Young Adult "Divergent" novel series, "Insurgent" is a slick but lackluster sequel to the 2014 hit "Divergent," in spite of an appealing lead in Woodley, who is a game heroine but can't overcome what a ho-hum, mostly boring story it all is: the movie revolves around some secrets kept in some dumb box held captive by the always sleek Winslet; we get it, this young girl has issues, now move on to something more intriguing. Speaking of which, Winslet and the fun Miles Teller ("Whiplash"), as good/bad guy Peter, provide the only real energy the movie is in need of, given you won't find it with the boring team of James and the lovely Woodley, whose sporty haircut has more life than her character does. "Insurgent" wastes the talents of two other talented actresses as well: Oscar-winner Octavia Spencer, in what is barely more than a cameo, and especially Naomi Watts, woefully miscast as the mother of 30-year James, who seems too old for this. Schwentke handles the action scenes serviceably, but there isn't enough of them to keep the story moving along, and of course, leaving the film open for its final chapters, the final book split into two unnecessary installments (thank you, "Twilight" for starting that unfortunate trend). The "Divergent" series has a legion of fans who'll no doubt turn out for this movie, and this movie is really for the fans of that series. "Divergent" doesn't do itself any favors in this disappointing, mostly banal, second installment, which is flavorless and lacks dramatic shape, hardly a "Godfather Part II" or "The Empire Strikes Back" but more like "The Cannonball Run II." Unless you really like this sort of thing, I'd opt for something else this weekend.
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