Hunger Games moves from Panem to Chicago. Divergent, a dystopic futuristic thriller with a powerful heroine (and sidekick love interest) deemed the chosen one because of her special set of skills trying to take down a totalitarian government, wants so badly to be taken as seriously as its predecessor. However, Tris Prior’s adventures sputter out of the gate much more so than Katniss Everdeen’s. Although if they stared at each other it would be like looking in the mirror.
In future Chicago, a war has savaged the country, and the powers that be have barricaded the survivors in the city. The city is also divided into 5 Factions: Erudite, Abnegation, Amity, Dauntless, and Candor. On her selection day (where you choose a faction for life), Tris Prior (Shailene Woodley) finds out that her suggestion faction is inconclusive because she is Divergent: meaning she can be multiple things at any one time. Acting opposite her family, Tris chooses Dauntless over Abnegation. In Dauntless, Tris learns how to fight, shoot guns, and learn how to conquer her fears. She gets assistance from a Dauntless leader named Four (Theo James), whom Tris is attracted to immediately. Tris and Four’s self-discovery gets put on hold however, when Erudite leader Jeanine Matthews (Kate Winslet) starts threatening the rule of Abnegation, including Tris’s parents (Tony Goldwyn and Ashley Judd).
Speed is Divergent’s biggest enemy. There is a lot of material to cover here: a world has to be created and described, personal relationships have to be explored, conflict and tension have to be created, and action has to be delivered. What Divergent misunderstands that other dystopic future stores do understand is that the relationships are the glue of any story; Divergent puts its world first. The story elements are sometimes pretty fun or exciting (a game of capture the flag or a dreamscape sequence is probably the highlight); however, the emotions they generate are lessened by the fact that only Tris gets any solid character development and arc. Having read the trilogy, I know that the people who fill Tris’s world have their own complicated backstories which really do a great service to the third act. The movie should have taken its time with the internal politics in Dauntless, helping the audience understand Tris’s world better, and establishing the Tris’s individual relationships within her faction. The more focused scope would allow plotting to be tighter and provide a shroud of mystery to other factions that could be explored in other films.
World building is where Divergent shines though. The futuristic Windy City is well designed by the effects team. The panormanic shots nicely encapsulate a once beautiful city rotting from the inside. The special effects are solid but mostly unspectacular, usually involving the dreamscapes. An extended sequence involving the John Hancock Building is by far the CGI highlight. Costumes and colors make it pretty easy to understand who belongs to whom. Divergent’s effects team won’t win any awards, but they do more service to the story than they will probably get credit for.
Questions still exist in the acting department, but not at the lead. Shailene Woodley proves here that she is capable of carrying a franchise. Tris has to be the right mix of fearless, emotional, weak, and sad which Woodley executes better than most her age. The only reason I felt anything watching Divergent was because how Woodley sells Tris’s feelings. Theo James doesn’t embarrass himself here, but he doesn’t really add anything either as Four. James appears to have one note: stoic. Hopefully he studies his mistakes here and is ready for the sequel. Kate Winslet is ice-cold as brainy Jeanine, but mostly she isn’t given much to do. Ashley Judd makes a solid impression as Tris’s mom. Miles Teller misplays Peter; he needed more menace and less frat boy. Of the outer characters, Zoe Kravitz and Jai Courtney are very good as Tris’s Dauntless members.
As a Chicago and Northwestern homer, I desperately wanted Divergent to be great. While not as deep as the Hunger Games, Divergent was a very engaging read with some compelling moments sprinkled consistently throughout the story. While not a hot mess, Divergent left me wanting and colder than I hoped. It could be because the story is flawed, or it could be because I would definitely choose Erudite as my faction.