IF THE Divergent franchise was released to cinemas before The Hunger Games, there is a large chance that it would have been more successful.
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Having never delved into the books that focus on a society where people are divided according to personality and aptitude, Divergent was a breath of fresh air for me.
It had the dystopian feeling that Hunger Games has but it felt different in that it was far more focused on where people belong rather than a government keeping people in line.
But inevitably the government did try to control the people of this futuristic Chicago-based community – and that’s where this series started to lose me.
When we left Tris in Divergent she had beaten a mind-control serum and was fleeing the city on a train bound for nowhere.
In Insurgent she is ready to take revenge on Jeanine (Kate Winslet), the woman who is determined to control society.
Shailene Woodley returns as Beatrice “Tris” Prior and has firmly established herself in Hollywood in the short year since Divergent.
After starting her film career with The Descendants (2011) opposite George Clooney, she started in Divergent and The Fault in Our Stars in 2014. Currently she is filming Snowden, a biographical political thriller about Edward Snowden.
In Insurgent, Woodley leads a mostly ho-hum cast through the motions.
Helping her is Miles Teller (Whiplash), as fellow Dauntless member Peter and Kate Winslet as Erudite leader Jeanine.
Theo James, Ashley Judd, Jai Courtney and Ansel Elgort all return along with a handful of other recognisable faces but no one really stands out for performance outside of Woodley, Winslet and Teller.
Insurgent is full of action thanks to Tris and Four (Theo James) having determination to be active in preventing the government’s plans.
It is well filmed by Robert Schwentke but does feel a little too familiar to the previous installment that Neil Burger directed.
While enjoyable as a whole for someone who has not read the books, parts of Insurgent still feels familiar and some characters are predictable.
The target audiences of teenagers and young adults should be pleased with Insurgent even if the original wasn’t well received by fans of the books.
Insurgent (M) is now showing at Bendigo Cinemas. See page 3 of the Bendigo Advertiser for session details.
Follow film reviewer Chris Pedler on Twitter @FilmNerdChris
