Insurgent: The Divergent Series - A Review

Insurgent: The Divergent Series

By Moriya Bradley

B+

Summary:

Insurgent is sequel to Divergent, a series about a dystopian society functioning with a five faction system.  Insurgent begins with our main characters, Tris- our Dauntless heroin, and Four- her boyfriend and partner.  Hiding from the Erudite and Dauntless soldiers hunting them for crimes they didn’t commit, Tris, Four, and a few others, find brief refuge inside Amity, the peaceful faction.  But the Dauntless soldiers are also hunting divergent again, brutally testing them.  Tris and Four are out of places to hide when they happen upon the Factionless, who bring to light buried secrets about Four’s past, as well as a possible solution to the threatening Jeanine Matthews, leader of Erudite and mastermind behind all of the attacks.

Thoughts:

If you’ve read the books, then you knew that Insurgent is full of twists and turns and shocking results.  A big fan of the books myself, I was extremely impressed that the film could still surprise me, even keeping very closely to the books.  The evolution of the story, though fast paced, seemed natural- a mark of excellent storytelling.  One big complaint that I’ve heard so far, and noticed myself, is the fast pacing of the film.  It’s true, much more that it’s predecessor, and in large part I think this could have been mended by adding 10 or 20 more minutes and filling it with some rich detail, hopefully including more screen time for some of the great side characters introduced in Divergent.  Now, having said that, despite of the film’s rushed pacing, there are subtle but fundamental hints that begin to tell us the true nature of each character.  The moral themes of the series are intensified, so if you’re looking for symbolism, you can’t miss it.  As far as craft, I have to say that the acting and cinematography were stellar.  I never questioned any talent, and visually, it’s stunning.  Over all, I’d say any fan of the books, as well as any fan of just the movie franchise would be satisfied with Insurgent.

Content Overview:

Mild language throughout with one muttered, quiet f-word.  There is one love scene where Tris and Four can be seen removing each other’s shirts, but only their backs are shown- no nudity.  They both have obvious tattoos.  There are several scenes where torture is shown, though not graphic.  There are hand to hand combat scenes throughout, as well as shooting.  There are multiple scenes where people are shot, slightly out of frame, execution style.