BIRMINGHAM, United Kingdom – Nowadays there seems to be a theme running throughout Hollywood. Movie producers have figured out that if you take a popular young adult novel and turn it into a film, along comes a pre-made fan base, and therefore many bodies to fill up cinema seats.
When it came to viewing Insurgent, the second installment of the dystopian Divergent series based on the novels by Veronica Roth, it could have gone either way for me.
Before actually seeing the film, in my head, it was going to be a boring waste of time or a surprisingly good movie. I’d say the actual outcome fell somewhere between the two.
In Divergent we learned that society – in the future, broken remains of the city of Chicago – splits people into five factions. Based on personally traits and aptitudes, you may find yourself in: dauntless, abnegation, candor, amity or erudite. Those with an unusual aptitude for more than one faction are known as divergent, and, more often than not, are killed due to the difficulty leaders have controlling them. Tris Prior, played by Shailene Woodley, is a divergent and this fact plays an important role throughout the duration of Insurgent. With the events taking place only five days after its predecessor, we do not learn much new information, at least not until almost the end of the film.
It seemed to me that the most interesting aspects of Insurgent came out towards the end of the movie, leaving the beginning a little lacking in scenes that actually contributed to the plot. A lot of the more engaging scenes were the ones involving the life-like simulations used frequently in the series to test and control.
Woodley did a great job of portraying Tris, a guilt ridden girl with a lot on her shoulders. She was able to show Tris’ emotions very well, something a lot of the other actors weren’t as good at with their own characters.
Insurgent was pretty good as far as sequels go. It wasn’t the best movie in the world, but it was definitely enjoyable.
Lauren Pope is a Reporter from the United Kingdom for Youth Journalism International.
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