"Once a stiff, always a stiff."
Tris Prior (Woodley) is haunted by people she couldn't save. She is in hiding with her brother Caleb (Elgort), her boyfriend Four (James), and Peter (Teller) in the Amity faction, while they try to decide what to next and who to trust. Jeanine Matthews (Winslet), Max (Phifer), and Eric (Courtney) are hunting for them and publicly blame them for the murder and destruction of the Abnegation faction.
Jeanine is building power over the city and no one wants to oppose her. While rounding up survivors in Abnegation, they find a box that holds the secrets of the Founders of the city. As Jeanine declares war on the Divergent, people who display abilities of multiple factions. While on the run, Tris and Four are intercepted by the Factionless, people who did not pass their faction initiation. The Factionless are led by Four's mother Evelyn (Watts), and are preparing for war. Can Tris protect the people she cares about and stop Jeanine?
I fell in love with Veronica Mars Divergent book series a few years ago. I devoured the first book and couldn't wait to dive into Insurgent, which I also really enjoyed. After the success of the film adaptation of Divergent, I was excited to see what they would do with Insurgent. I was further excited by the screenwriters, Brian Duffield (who was a classmate of mine at college), Akiva Goldsman, and Mark Bomback.
The film was ok, but definitely not what I was expecting. It also made several changes from the book. I understand that adaptations are tricky and need to consolidate storylines and characters... but sometimes these changes can alter the entire story. The movie changed some major plot points and some character traits that change the story. For explain, the box is not in the books. The message is essentially the same, but the methods are not. Also, in the books, Jeanine already knows the truth and she is trying to hide that from the city. In the movie, she is desperate to find the answer at any cost. It changes her as a character, making her slightly more human / likeable. It also changes your feelings about the Priors and their involvement. I understand, but I preferred the book version.
Again, the casting was pretty solid. Shailene Woodley and Theo James are still good. Kate Winslet is still evil, and Miles Teller still gets the snarky comments as Peter. I liked Octavia Spencer as Johanna and Daniel Dae Kim as Jack Kang, but both were underused. Naomi Watts was a good choice to be Evelyn, and it will be interesting to see where they take her in the sequel.
Like all other YA adaptations, the final book, Allegiant, will be divided into 2 movies. I am very interested to see what the writers / directors do with the final book.
It wasn't a bad film, but I was disappointed with all of the changes from the book.
The Divergent Series: Insurgent (2015) 119 minutes
Rating: PG-13 for intense violence and action throughout, some sensuality, thematic elements and brief language
Director: Robert Schwentke
Starring: Shailene Woodley as Beatrice "Tris" Prior
Theo James as Tobias "Four" Eaton
Miles Teller as Peter Hayes
Octavia Spencer as Johanna Reyes
Ansel Elgort as Caleb Prior
Jai Courtney as Eric Coulter
Zoe Kravitz as Christina
Ray Stevenson as Marcus Eaton
Maggie Q as Tori Wu
Naomi Watts as Evelyn Johnson
Kate Winslet as Jeanine Matthews
Mekhi Phifer as Max
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