At The Movies: Divergent

Movie: Divergent

Stars: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Zoe Kravits, Ansel Elgort, Kate Winslet, Ashley Judd

My Rating: 5/5

I am giving the movie a full 5 even when some things irked me, because overall I think it was an amazing adaptation of the book and the cast really made the story come alive. This one I'm definitely buying on BluRay!

What I liked~

Veronica Roth’s cameo in the canopy scene! Now how fucking awesome is that? It makes me immensely happy when movie people consult the authors and let them into the process, but giving the author a tiny part is beyond the call of duty and should be praised. Gives me hope for whenever a novel of mine gets to the big screen or even the tv screen as a series LOL

The connection between Tris and Four wasn’t like the one in the book, and I both liked and disliked that aspect. In the book, I could see why the two ended up together because there was that slow simmering attractions and a set of encounters that led to it. In the movie, of course, you don't have the luxury of a slow pacing and so their attraction felt a bit rushed? Either way, I still enjoyed the sexy times!

And the sexy times with tattoos!

The world building was pretty amazing. The devastated Chicago landscapes looked epic and the canopy scene, though obviously CGI, still gave me and my friends a thrill.

The fear landscapes were another thing that I was excited to see how they handled, and I have to say they did a great job. They looked both real and surreal, which was the point of them.

Her training. OW! I'm conscious it's a movie and that fights are staged, but damn those fights sequences had me cringing with each blow. I really liked that we got to see Tris's transformation from the point where she knows nothing, to the point where she can handle herself in a fight against anyone.

Friendships. Another point I was hoping they nailed and they did. Tris's friendships play a big part in the books, and they highlighted them enough in the movie to show that.

What I didn’t like~

Except for a couple of scenes, Tris remained monosyllabic for the first part of the movie. Her favorite words were Yeah, Ok, and I'm pretty sure there was a third one, but I can't remember it. I was pretty distracted by what was happening on screen--it is an exciting movie, after all--but even so, I noticed her lack of longer dialogue responses compared to other characters. It was very disconcerting since she is the heroine of the story.

This is more of an issue with how they shot the movie and not with the story itself, but the in-your-face close-up shots got boring pretty fast. Like, hello, let me see their clothes and the room/space around them!

The last shot of the movie was beautiful, but what the hell happened to Four’s lines? I WAS WAITING FOR THEM! I kept mouthing the words, reciting his lines, but he never says them! Here's the quote from the book...

"I have something to tell you," he says.

I run my fingers along the tendons in his hand and look back at him.

"I might be in love with you." He smiles a little. "I'm waiting until I'm sure to tell you, though."

So cheesy! So cute!

What made my fangirl heart explode~

The ‘wake up Four’ scene. Holy shit. That's all I can say.