Hey all!
I've been missing from the blogosphere for a couple of months now because I've
been applying for jobs and I've been so caught up with applications and
interviews, as well as exam revision (eeek!!) so I've had absolutely no time at
all to post anything.
Anyway, I
decided to reward myself because all that's over now (well, okay, revision
isn't, but come on - I've been working really hard!) so I went to see the
Divergent movie this week! I did a review of the book some time last year (click here to see the post), so I thought it only fitting to follow up with the movie review!
For those of
you who haven’t read the book/seen the movie, I’ll give you the 411. Divergent
is set in the future, in a (yep, you guessed it) dystopian world. But don’t yawn yet. Contrary to popular belief, it
is NOT a carbon copy of The Hunger
Games – the only similarity is that they’re both set in the future, and have
strong female protagonists. Similarity ends there. I mean, there isn’t even a
love triangle in Divergent, which is so refreshing. But I digress.
Anyway, the
story follows Tris, who lives in this world, where society is made up of 5
factions (Abnegation, Amity, Candor, Dauntless and Erudite), which stand for
different traits (Selflessness, Kindness, Honesty, Courage and Intelligence in
that order). At 16, everyone undergoes testing to discover which faction they
belong to, and then has to choose to leave their own faction and join a new
one, or stay with their families. Tris, born into Abnegation, finds that her
aptitude test results are inconclusive – she is Divergent and as such, doesn’t
fit in any one faction.
She decides
to join Dauntless, and has to undergo their grueling initiation process,
without arousing suspicion of her status as a Divergent, to claim her place in
the faction, and to avoid being thrown out and becoming factionless – a fate
worse than death. She has to battle it out with other initiates, and her
instructors who continually push them to the limits. Tris is then discovered by
her instructor, Four, to be Divergent – and he’s Divergent too. He teaches her
how to hide her Divergent side in the final training exercise, because if the
Dauntless leaders find out, Tris is as good as dead.
But there’s
something bigger at play here – a plot to kill all Divergents (!) and take over
control of the government on the part of Erudite (!!) and Tris and Four are
caught up in the middle of it.
So, first
things first - the way I judge if a movie is good or not, is if I come out of
the cinema and do a double take, because I genuinely thought I was in that
world. Divergent ticked the box on that one - I was like, "oh - I was at
the cinema this whole time" *sad face*.
So here’s a
list of the good, bad and the ugly about Divergent :) oh and **SPOILER ALERT**
Jeanine
shows up way more in the film than she does in the book.
At first, I
wasn't sure if I liked this (I'm the kind that hates it when they change the
story too much) but it does give a face to the enemy, so to speak, and makes it
obvious who the bad guy is. Also, you really get a sense for how dedicated she
is to her "cause" - especially when you see how crazy she is at the
end.
Uriah!!
Wasn't in the movie - I felt like he played a pretty strong part in the book,
so I was a little sad that they cut him out.
The train
scenes were just as awesome as they sounded (or read) in the book and the
zip-line scene - OMGEEZ blew the book out of the water!!
I literally
felt like I was flying - and I love the way they changed it up a little with
the whole speeding-the-zip-up bit halfway through!! And the song they played
- M83
- I Need You - was so perfect for it! There’s only one word for it – beautiful.
Now, for the
fight scenes. They didn't tone them down (win!) and made them really brutal -
this just made the whole thing so much more realistic. I was actually wincing
everytime Tris or Christina took a hit. However, they didn't put in a scene
where Tris beat anyone *sad face* Which just bugged me.
OMG and when
Eric puts his hand out to help Christina, I was so expecting him to punch her
or something - Jai Courteny was AMAZING as Eric. I was genuinely scared of him
throughout the movie.
Christina's
Bridge Scene - disappointing. I didn't feel as "aaah omg I hope she
doesn't die!" as I did with the book. They could have made this so much
more dramatic. Although I did LOVE Zoe Kravitz as Christina - and I liked that
she looked a little more rough than most of the other characters. It was just a
lot more realistic.
I was suuper
worried they would leave out Capture The Flag scene - it was one of my
favourite parts of the book and I was literally over the moon that they left it
in. I also loved the way the Tris and Christina team up to get the flag, even
though it's Christina who wins in the book. You get to see them being friends,
instead of competing initiates. And I loved the way Eric says Tris is out, and
then she just jumps on the train anyway and joins the group. I can't remember
if this was in the book or not, but I loved it anyway - go Tris!
Obviously,
the all-important Ferris-Wheel scene happens too, but it wasn't all that great;
they didn’t make Four start the Wheel when Tris gets stuck, so meh.
Back to Jai
Courteny though :) I had totally imagined Eric as scrawny and skinny and
creepy, but woah, Eric is hot! So attractive, that I don't care that he's the
villain. The above lines were just so I had an excuse to put a picture of him
here.
 |
| Eeeek! His tattooos... |
I also wish
they'd left the Al-Tris scene in - you know, the one where he sort of tells her
he likes her? That would have made the kidnap-suicide scene so much worse - and
so much better. The way the film puts it, it's kinda neither here nor there,
and I don't really care about Al as much.
The Pit/Area
where the boys try to throw Tris into the Chasm - that genuinely looked like a
school play set - and I've seen better school sets.
They
just look like painted cardboard boxes stacked on top of each other!! What's up
with that??
And
I initially hated - hated - Theo James as Four (he just
doesn't look like him!) but he kinda grows on you towards the end of the movie.
I actually kinda like the fact that he's quite serious throughout the movie
though - again, it suits him better. I can’t imagine Theo being all sweet and
flirty.
Caleb
on the other hand was adorably goofy (the way he runs!!) and the casting was
perfect for him!! Although I just can't imagine him betraying Tris in
Insurgent. Hmm, can't wait to see that one!
Shailene
as Tris was just amazing though! I've never seen her in anything else, but OMG
she's my new fave actress! She's just so easy to relate to and she plays Tris
so well! Oh and when her mum dies and she's all like "Mom!!" I'll admit
I did cry - hence, I have to stop wearing mascara to the cinema, because I just
end up crying and come out looking like a panda.
Oh
and the scene where she turns the gun on herself and tells Four it's okay -
that was AMAZING!! Shailene just pulls you into the scene so well!!
And
the way she's all spunky, like "Why does everybody keep saying that?"
when she threatens to shoot people and they're like, "You're not going to
shoot me". BANG! Yeah, you got that one wrong, Peter.
Maggie
Q as Tori - she looked so Dauntless!! I loved her as Tori, and can't wait to
see her get a bigger part of the action in the second film. She ended up
looking like I had imagined, which is a huge plus, but I wanted to see her
maybe a little more emotional when she talked about her Divergent brother,
Georgie.
 |
| Green hair = so Dauntless |
Miles
Teller a.k.a Peter. I can't put into words how evil he is - in the book at
least. I just didn't get that same pit-of-my-soul loathing feeling from him in
the movie. That might have to do with the fact that they cut out his two most
important scenes - the butter-knife to the eye and towel-yanking scenes that
made him so hateful. And they didn't even really make him responsible for the
kidnapping thing – you only really see Al as the one who instigates it!! The
only good scene with him in was where he fights Tris, but overall, I think they
should have kept him as scheming and icky like in the book.
Now
- the Simulation scenes!!
These
were done so well! In the beginning, I wasn't so sure with the aptitude testing
and the dog, but they got better and better – although, I do think they went
through Four's fear landscape too quickly and it was a bit like, let’s get this
over and done with already.
I
loved the way they did the crow scene out past the city they live in, and also
the way Four explains that there's the Dauntless way of going through the fear landscape
and the Divergent way, and how to pretend to be Dauntless, so to speak.
Also,
when he demands that Tris tell him what her aptitude test result was, and
insists she is lying – this stayed true to Four’s character, and does make him
a little scarier.
The
final simulation/test thing was so well done - the way she's in front of all
the Dauntless leaders and has to go through her fear landscape - and I loved
the way they added that bit in the end where she has to shoot her family, but
you can't tell if it's real or not! That was a little gut-wrenching and scary.
The
Ending!!
I'm
not sure how I feel about the change to this last scene - i.e. having Jeanine
there during the fight etc. It was a bit weird - and she doesn't have to fight
Jeanine either, in the book. Although that was a pretty cool scene, and you see
the crazy side of Jeanine here too. The Tris-Four fight scene was pretty
horrific but really realistic, so ten out of ten for that. And considering you
don't actually see Tris being ruthless or winning any fights, I liked that she
threw that knife and threatened Jeanine. And then injects her with her own
serum!! That was pretty awesome, although, in reality, would Tris and Four
really have known how to control her??
My
main problem with the end though is this - they don't end up stealing the hard-drive,
and it is obvious that Tris and Four weren't running the sim, which is why they
go to Candor, to prove they aren't lying in the book. So what's the sequel
going to be about??
Overall,
I did love the movie – I would give it a Preppy Girl rating of 9/10 and it only
missed out on the big one-oh because of the poor “Pit” set and the lack of
danger in Christina’s bridge scene. I
would definitely recommend it to anyone who’s into dystopian-style stories, but
I would say read the book first, so you get the full experience.
Over
and out :)
p.s.
go to the cinema and watch it. Asap.
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