Based on the first in a series of hugely successful books by Veronica Roth, Divergent is set in a society where people are divided into different factions depending on human virtues: Abnegation (selfless), Amity (peaceful), Erudite (intelligent), Candor (truthful) and Dauntless (brave).
We follow Tris (Shailene Woodley), a teenage girl who doesn’t fit into any category and is therefore known as Divergent, a classification that’s strictly forbidden by the powers that be, headed by the ruthless Jeanine (Kate Winslet). Choosing to leave her family and join the Dauntless faction, Tris soon discovers a plot to destroy all Divergents and sets out to stop it.
Comparisons with other successful teen fantasy franchises may be a little unfair but it is undoubtedly influenced by them and exists in a post-Twilight and Hunger Games world. It features a whole list of tropes from the genre, from the controlled futuristic society and extreme training sequences found prominently in the Jennifer Lawrence-led series to the overwrought romance found in that most famous of vampire franchises, to name but a few. And it’s a film that makes sure to hold your hand every step of the way, with enough expositional dialogue that practically mean the sequels could be silent.
As simplistic and gimmicky as its central premise is, it has a positive message at its heart; that you should be true to yourself and not just fit in because that’s what’s demanded of you. And there’s some interesting things going on amidst all the running around and fighting, such as the thinly veiled allusion of free-will which allows people to ignore their test results and join whatever faction to which they feel they belong. Even though it never delves into any of that stuff to any great and satisfying degree, at least it’s having a go.
Along with its encouraging message it has in Tris a good role model for young girls not too dissimilar to Katniss Everdeen. Woodley also brings an energy and likeability to the role, as convincing as a young girl scared of what her future holds and leaving her family behind as she is in the action set-pieces. She is supported by a, for the most part, well-cast group of supporting actors, not least of which is Theo James as Four, an unpredictable member of the Dauntless faction to whom Tris is immediately drawn. It’s a potentially clichéd character that James makes compelling. We also have the likes of Ashley Judd and Tony Goldwyn as Tris’ parents, Miles Tells as the resident asshole of Tris’ new fearless, tattoo-sporting “family” and Maggie Q as the test giver who first alerts Tris to her lack of compatibility. Surprisingly the weak link in the chain is Winslet, who isn’t necessarily bad but having an actress of her fame and calibre in such a small, underdeveloped and underused role is simply distracting.
At 140 minutes it’s yet another blockbuster that could have done with more of a trim in the editing room, reducing a lot of the heavy-handed exposition that merely drags things to a snail’s place and doesn’t trust the intelligence of its audience. Any visual inventiveness to be found, particularly in the sequences that test Tris on her attributes and (un)suitability, is kind of undone by action scenes which are either dull or plagued by dodgy CGI that takes you out of the moment – sometimes both at once. And all of it heads towards a showdown ending that feels derivative and predictable, setting up the predestined sequel in a way that can be seen coming about an hour beforehand.
There’s nothing especially terrible about Divergent; it’s passable teen fantasy fare with enough going on between the ears and weight in its casting to make it stand out from wannabe teen franchises such as I Am Number Four, The Host and Mortal Instruments: City of Bones. But it’s all just crushingly, head-smashingly ordinary and that’s a disappointment for a film that’s so much about being different.
