Allegiant Reviewed
"Oh God, we're going another one of these movies" - What all these actors are thinking in this picture (Photo Courtesy of EW.com)
Movie studios have been combing through popular young adult novels looking for the next Hunger Games and at one point they thought they had it. Like the others before it, the Divergent series features a young starlet with a lot of independent movies under her belt, teamed up with a bunch of other young and pretty actors and at least one big-name veteran. Following this formula, they thought they could recapture the magic of The Hunger Games. They thought wrong.
The latest movie in the Divergent series is called Allegiant and it picks up right where the second movie, Insurgent, left off. The war between the factions is over, which means Tris (Shailene Woodley) and Four (Theo James) are looking beyond the wall of their city to see what has become of the world around them.
If you are anything like me, there is a strong chance you haven’t seen the previous movie since it came out last year. If that is the case you may be find yourself 15 minutes into the movie wondering what exactly is going on. Gus from The Fault In Our Stars is about to be executed, the tattoo lady from the first movie is now part of the gang, and the new Mr. Fantastic, who betrays the group at every turn, is still traveling with them outside the city. More importantly, if you are anything like me, you will be thinking to yourself, “Who cares?”
This movie was rough. From the first time they venture outside the city [spoiler alert – they get beyond the wall] and you get a look at the outside world, your eyes will whinge. It is tough to tell if the movie had too much of a budget or not enough of one. Perhaps it was a combination— enough of a budget to create a whole new world using CGI, but not enough to make the CGI look good.
Somehow they also made their lead character, Tris, the least interesting person in the movie. I didn’t care what she was doing with Jeff Daniels. I didn’t care about her put upon and cheesy love story with Four. I just didn’t care. And it is tough to have a good movie when your lead character lacks a dynamic storyline.
The Divergent series, in its unabashed desire to mimic Hunger Games, ended up with the same problem to boot: the first book is considerably better than the third, yet again it's the third book that’s split into two movies.
There were a couple positive elements in the movie, though. First is Miles Teller, who was hilarious once again as Peter. His constant one-liners represent the movie’s sole sound dialogue, and only comic relief in this dredge of a story. I also really liked Four in this movie. His character is usually the most lukewarm of the bunch, but when his relationship with Tris hits a rocky patch he gets all John McClain. His fighting scenes were well-choreographed, and his character actually had its own story arc. Maybe one day Theo James will get an action movie all his own—that is if people can sit through this movie.
The cast of Allegiant deserves better than a movie that lacks any cohesive and interesting writing. I imagine these actors are just counting down the days until they can be done with this movie series. I can assure you that everyone else feels the same. D-
The latest movie in the Divergent series is called Allegiant and it picks up right where the second movie, Insurgent, left off. The war between the factions is over, which means Tris (Shailene Woodley) and Four (Theo James) are looking beyond the wall of their city to see what has become of the world around them.
If you are anything like me, there is a strong chance you haven’t seen the previous movie since it came out last year. If that is the case you may be find yourself 15 minutes into the movie wondering what exactly is going on. Gus from The Fault In Our Stars is about to be executed, the tattoo lady from the first movie is now part of the gang, and the new Mr. Fantastic, who betrays the group at every turn, is still traveling with them outside the city. More importantly, if you are anything like me, you will be thinking to yourself, “Who cares?”
This movie was rough. From the first time they venture outside the city [spoiler alert – they get beyond the wall] and you get a look at the outside world, your eyes will whinge. It is tough to tell if the movie had too much of a budget or not enough of one. Perhaps it was a combination— enough of a budget to create a whole new world using CGI, but not enough to make the CGI look good.
Somehow they also made their lead character, Tris, the least interesting person in the movie. I didn’t care what she was doing with Jeff Daniels. I didn’t care about her put upon and cheesy love story with Four. I just didn’t care. And it is tough to have a good movie when your lead character lacks a dynamic storyline.
The Divergent series, in its unabashed desire to mimic Hunger Games, ended up with the same problem to boot: the first book is considerably better than the third, yet again it's the third book that’s split into two movies.
There were a couple positive elements in the movie, though. First is Miles Teller, who was hilarious once again as Peter. His constant one-liners represent the movie’s sole sound dialogue, and only comic relief in this dredge of a story. I also really liked Four in this movie. His character is usually the most lukewarm of the bunch, but when his relationship with Tris hits a rocky patch he gets all John McClain. His fighting scenes were well-choreographed, and his character actually had its own story arc. Maybe one day Theo James will get an action movie all his own—that is if people can sit through this movie.
The cast of Allegiant deserves better than a movie that lacks any cohesive and interesting writing. I imagine these actors are just counting down the days until they can be done with this movie series. I can assure you that everyone else feels the same. D-
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