Dear young adult fiction authors, please stop writing more books, signed people who go to movies.
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“Divergent” is the latest entry into the highly profitable world of adapting young adult fiction novels to film This one follows yet another teenage girl as she battles what it means to mature in an inhospitable world, and how she finds herself unwillingly at the center of a revolution. In this version of the world every person is divided into one of five mini societies as a way to keep order. But issues arise when our hero finds out things aren’t actually that simple.
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I will say right up front I actually quite enjoyed this world. What I mean by that is that the setup and organization of the sorting system here was clever and engaging to me. I found myself genuinely interested in how it worked and what the rules were. Whether it was the initiation process, the choosing ceremony, or even the technology, I was impressed with how it was implemented. Some of that has to do with the brilliance of the metaphor and message Divergent brings about having to fit into a preset idea of who we are. Who hasn’t felt the world trying to sort them into categories, or wrestled with the paradox of wanting to belong while at the same time just being yourself. For me, that stuff is where the movie really shines, appealing to that deep need to be understood. I also loved seeing this post apocalyptic version of Chicago, but that might just be because I’m so familiar with that beautiful city.
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But even with such a solid premise this movie falls prey to some real problems common to the genre. It’s too slow, too long, and way too sappy. I Mean I Get it the tween girls are going to swoon, but can the rest of us get a break every once in a while? The worst thing thought had to be the way Divergent just feels like a cookie cutter production. From Twilight, to Hunger Games, to that last one with the one people in the caves, they all have this formula that Im just getting tired of.. Can someone please just put an ounce of creativity into making something with a little bit different art style or feel. I mean what would a divergent directed by Paul Greengrass, Edgar Wright, or Wes Anderson look like? And, you know, for a movie whose entire message is about not fitting in to preconceived norms, I find it pretty ironic that it follows that well worn pattern so closely.
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Overall, Divergent just isn’t Divergent enough. It feels so much like so many overly sappy movies before it, that even an interesting premise isn’t enough to stretch it passed a B-.
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Thanks for checking out this Your Movie Friend review, stay tuned for this review’s “Best Ever” challenge here in bit but first, I’m going to put up some stuff you can click over in this area. If you’d like to subscribe, which I would much appreciate, you can do so by clicking the big gray subscribe button. Want to see more? You can click here to see a review for the new Muppets Movie “Muppets Most Wanted” or the faith based film, “God’s Not Dead”. You can also Click the logo up here to go to yourmoviefriend.com where you can search by title for reviews. And finally this review’s “Best Ever” Challenge, where you name the best movie ever in a particular category and also try to identify my choice. What is the “the best movie set in Chicago ever”? I know I know, there are a lot to choose from, but I think for me it would have to be the one that involved a monotone game show host turned eye moisturizer salesmen acting as a teacher. Drop your own answer and a guess at mine in the comments and first person to guess mine gets a point! Thanks and please subscribe!