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March 9, 2017

Divergent: Allegiant (2016) --- "Girl Discovers A World Beyond Her City But Is It As Good As The Book?"

Copyright
Plot Summary
After the earth-shattering revelations of Insurgent, Tris, must escape with Four and go beyond the wall enclosing Chicago. For the first time ever, they will leave the only city and family they have ever known. Once outside, old discoveries are quickly rendered meaningless with the revelation of shocking new truths. Tris and Four must quickly decide who they can trust as a ruthless battle ignites beyond the walls of Chicago which threatens all of humanity. In order to survive, Tris will be forced to make impossible choices courage, allegiance, sacrifice and love. (1)









Review
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Hello, Movie Buffs!
     Shailene Woodley is a good actress, not necessarily one of my favorite actresses but I am glad to see her pursuing other roles and she is someone to watch. While continually seen as a Hunger Games wannabe, Divergent is both a good story and a well-acted film with good visual effects
     As of now, Allegiant is the worst of the Divergent series to date and unfortunately the
film series has noticeably gone downhill from the start: Divergent was not exactly a new YA dystopian story but good; Insurgent was uncomfortably fast paced but okay; and now Allegiant is not only both poor and mind-numbing but it is not even accurate to the book. While Insurgent changed a few things from book to film, Allegiant does not follow the book at all. In my opinion, it should not even be considered as movie adaption of the book, it's more like a 'loosely based' film on a novel by Veronica Roth. We follow our protagonists, captivatingly strong Tris and perpetually interesting Four, through the wastelands and into the hands of, the sinisterly titled, Bureau of Genetic Welfare, led by David (Jeff Daniels).

     In contrast to the books, it is quite obvious that each film in the Divergent franchise has had a different group of screenwriters, and this time Noah Oppenheim (Maze Runner) along with Adam Cooper and Bill Collage (Exodus: God and Kings) have the pen but hardly do the book justice. A vast majority of the dialogue falls to ground much like the bulky transports featured in the film, and some of the plot points are predictable and obvious beyond belief. Large chunks of the film's running time is wasted and hardly anything seems to happen, no surprise there considering that the third book has been split into two parts. Yes, people, we will have another 'book to movie adaption' split into two parts, as if we haven't already done that (i.e. Twilight, Hunger Games, Harry Potter, The Hobbit, etc). It is quite obvious that the decision to split the final novel into two was purely made for monetary reasons, a gamble which appears not to have paid off when you consider the opening box office earnings ($29 million) vs the movie budget ($110 million) 
     The special effects are confusing, disheveled, and blotchy in places. Here we see multiple occasions of Tris being called up to David's office for meetings where she exchanges some of the dullest exposition dialogue heard throughout the film. The set of David's office is so over-designed to the point of distraction and it the green-screen work throughout the film is poorly done and almost nothing looks real, especially when you consider that Divergent's special effects were pretty good maybe not perfect but good on their own.
     Director Robert Schweitzer has made some good movies in the past - Insurgent; Flightplan; The Time Traveler's Wife - however this doesn't extend his reputation. And even though it was a poor film it will no doubt still attract an audience, particularly among those who have not read the books or very much care with how downhill the movies have gone and only care about finishing an adventure, and that's fine.
     I applaud Shailene Woodley with how well she portrays Tris considering the "material" she has to work with and she has great chemistry with the hunky eye-candy, Theo James. However, her acting ability and skill is far better than what she has been given here. In addition, the series does not end as a trilogy, which is both confusing (considering that there was no indication after the film that there would be a fourth and final movie) and not surprising at all. Miles Teller's character attempts to inject some comic relief into the proceedings but even his jokes fall flat. A tragic and pitiful affair. Unfortunately, Shailene Woodley will not be back again as Tris is Ascendant in 2017, which is said to be a TV movie and may not even include much of the rest of the cast either. On a positive note, Shailene Woodley was able to redeem herself in a starring role in Oliver Stone's Edward Snowden biopic, which I will share later.


"Great leaders don't seek power. They're called by necessity. The people need you."
- Johanna

Final Vote (my opinion)
Worth Seeing: 3 of 5 stars
Worth Buying: 2.5 of 5stars


I hope you liked this post, subscribe to my blog via email HERE, send in your comments, and watch Divergent: Allegiant Part 1 (2016).



Movies Similar
The 5th Wave (2015)
Beautiful Creatures (2013) 
Divergent (2014)
Ender's Game (2013)
The Giver (2014)
The Host (2013)
The Maze Runner (2014)
Maze Runner: Scorch Trials (2015)
Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (2013)
Percy Jackson: The Lightning Theif (2010)
Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters (2013)




Cast & Crew


Directed by: Robert Schwentke   
Writing Credits: (screenplay) Noah Oppenheim,  Adam Cooper, and Bill Collage. (novel) Veronica Roth.
Produced by 
Nicole Barnette                  ...     producer: Perfexia unit
Lucy Fisher                         ...     producer
Douglas Wick                     ...     producer
Pouya Shahbazian            ...     producer
John Wildermuth             ...     co-producer
Charlie Morrison               ...    co-producer
Michael Paseornek            ...    production executive
Neil Burger                         ...    executive producer
David Hoberman              ...     executive producer
Todd Lieberman                ...    executive producer
Danielle Shilling Lovett   ...    executive producer: Perfexia unit
Barry H. Waldman           ...     executive producer
Debbi Bossi                         ...    associate producer
Julia Enescu                       ...    associate producer

Cast:
Theo James --- Four
Jeff Daniels --- David
Ansel Elgort --- Caleb
Miles Teller --- Peter
Octavia Spencer --- Johanna
ZoĆ« Kravitz --- Christina
Tony Goldwyn --- Andrew
Ashley Judd --- Natalie
Konrad Howard --- Connor
Lucella Costa --- Odessa
Ray Stevenson --- Marcus
Jonny Weston --- Edgar
Naomi Watts --- Evelyn
Keiynan Lonsdale --- Uriah
Suki Waterhouse --- Marlene
Emjay Anthony --- Hector
Rosa Salazar --- Lynn
Daniel Dae Kim --- Jack Kang
Janet McTeer --- Edith Prior

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