The biggest critics of Divergent, the prequel to Insurgent, accused the movie of being Hunger Games lite. I can’t disagree with them: most of Tris’s best traits seemed plagiarized out of the Katniss playbook. However, Shailene Woodley was solid as the lead, and there were enough decent supporting actors (Miles Teller, Kate Winslet) and additions (Naomi Watts, Octavia Spencer) to give hope to Insurgent pushing the story now that the world building is done. However, that world was built on a sinkhole. Aside from a few good moments, Insurgent doubles down on riding Hunger Games coattails to lots of dinero with no substance. Insurgent is the McRib to Hunger Games actual slab of ribs.
Insurgent starts soon after the end of Divergent. Tris (Shailene Woodley), her brother Caleb (Ansel Elgort), Four (Theo James), and Peter (Miles Teller) are hiding in Amity (one of the 5 groups of people in Tris’s world) awaiting a moment to return to the fight against Jeanine (Kate Winslet) and her hostile takeover. Jeanine’s power led her to discover a secret about her society, and wouldn’t you know it, Tris’s divergence is key to solving the puzzle.
Insurgent opts for the kitchen sink approach to dystopian sci-fi storytelling. Each trope we see seems familiar: systemic injustice, CGI technological aptitude, plot driving macguffins. The problem with Insurgent is that this hodgepodge is only covered at a surface level. Hunger Games dives deep into the political machinations between those in power and those not so lucky. Insurgent introduces the 5 factions, and factionless, but doesn’t bother to explain how important each group is and why they matter, rendering the politics pointless. The trope jumping keeps Insurgent moving very quickly, but it causes drastic tonal shifts and renders the third act impotent. Even pretty CGI action sequences leave you feeling cold instead of energized.
Having read these novels, Insurgent’s movie storytelling spins pretty differently from the novel. Veronica Roth’s novel heavily relies on Tris’s relationships to push the story forward, relying on her inner conflict over the consequences of her actions to generate tension and intrigue. At the end of Divergent (SPOILERS AHEAD for Divergent), Tris’s actions result in a death of a character one of Tris’s friends loved. The eventual reveal of her involvement should be devastating to both parties, but the movie sweeps it under the rug to move the plot ever forward. The third act commits the most damning mistake; the book does a great job setting up the final conflict between Tris and Jeanine, basing the standoff on who the two characters are. This movie inserts the macguffin (a magic box) in between Tris and Jeanine, making Jeanine obsolete to the story other than to attach Tris to cables. The movie Insurgent strips character development from book Insurgent, further indifferenting the audience from the resolution of the film.
This is the first film where Shailene Woodley did not make a movie better with her involvement. Her Tris evolves heavily in the book, growing into an adult as you read; however, Insurgent’s script doesn’t give her a lot to work with. As such, she comes across morose, unless she is overacting to truth serum. Theo James has a career as a model to look forward to as soon as people realize he cannot act. Kate Winslet gets a couple good scenes being cold and conniving, but she is pretty insignificant. Ansel Elgort, Octavia Spencer, and Naomi Watts, really good actors, show up for one scene or so to get their massive pay check. What a waste of talent. The only bright spot is Miles Teller; Teller’s take on Peter was terrible for Divergent, but gives a nice light touch to Insurgent which desperately needed one.
Insurgent is forgettable and frustrating. It forgets that dystopian science fiction is best when viewed as a character based allegory, not a CGI based shoot em up. The casting director deserves some blame here too; I mean, Shailene Woodley has 3 former movie love interests traveling with her, no wonder she is so dour.