Ash
If you liked “Divergent”, you’ll probably enjoy director Robert Schwentke’s follow up “Insurgent”. If you, like I, felt that the first film was somewhat lacking in story and character depth, you’ll probably come out of the sequel feeling similarly let down.
Set in the dystopian future, “Insurgent” sees Tris (Shailene Woodley) and Four (Theo James) on the run from Jeanine (Kate Winslet), the villainous leader of Erudite. We pick up where “Divergent” left off, in the aftermath of the war against Abnegation, and Tris is still wanted for her unique Divergent capabilities which threaten the faction system.
The film is extremely similar to its predecessor. It seems to rehash much of what we learnt in the first instalment and follows a similar story arch. In fact, the film is comparable to almost all of the films based on YA novels we’ve seen of late. It doesn’t really bring anything new to a genre that has been done to death in recent times.
A shout out, however, to Miles Teller who brings some light to a fairly dark and serious film through subtle yet amusing sarcastic wit. The other performances are also reasonably commendable, with veterans such as Winslet and Naomi Watts doing what they can with fairly two dimensional characters. Don’t expect any Oscar-worthy performances though.
Similarly shallow is the romantic relationship between Tris and Four, which formed a fairly prominent sub-plot in the first film. Here, the romance is lost in a film packed with action. A token love scene is thrown in there in an awkward spot which doesn’t add much to the story, but otherwise Tris and Four show about as much romantic affection for each other as she does for her brother Caleb (Ansel Elgort), who isn’t even fighting on her side.
Having said that, the action sequences were polished and appealing with the excellent graphics a stand out – thank god for big Hollywood budgets, right? The film seemed to work at its best when Tris entered a virtual-world in which anything and everything is possibly, the constraints of reality and logic no longer necessary. It is then that Schwentke could go to town with the aesthetics of it all.
As the film progresses it does gain momentum, leading to what is a commendable finale. The final two instalments (Roth’s final book will be split in to two films, just for something different…) are set up in an exciting and intriguing manner that left me curious to know what is to come, despite my overall lack of enthusiasm for a film we’ve all seen before.
