Divergent
Running Time: 139 minutes
Rating: PG-13
Release Date: March 21, 2014
Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Director: Neil Burger
Writers: Evan Daugherty (screenplay), Vanessa Taylor (screenplay), Veronica Roth (book)
Stars: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Kate Winslet
Source
*WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR BOOK AND MOVIE*
Last night, I was fortunate enough to see Divergent on opening day. I am a huge fan of the Divergent trilogy by Veronica Roth and I was very excited to see the movie. Luckily, this movie served the book justice. Although there were a few scenes that were either cut out of the movie or changed, the overall movie was very similar to the book. The actors were phenomenal, the story was fast-paced and almost straight from the book, but there were some differences between the book and movie.
First of all, the actors were phenomenal. Shailene Woodley, who plays Tris Prior, was very believable as Tris. While I was reading the book, I pictured Tris as a small, weak girl and Shailene delivered that image perfectly. Even though Tris, in the movie, wasn't shorter than the other initiates, she still looked and acted like she was so much smaller than them. I have to admit, when I fist saw that Shailene was casted casted as Tris I wasn't to thrilled because she didn't look exactly the part. I thought that her hair was to brunette and she looked way younger than Four, her love interest. I was reading the People magazine exclusive Divergent edition, and saw that Shailene actually was inside a tank full of water and she really had to stand on the ledge of the tall building that she first jumped of during Dauntless initiation. Also, during the scene in which Tris's mother dies, Tris looked so sad and was bawling which made me want to cry and I did not feel this while I was reading the book. This proves what an exceptional actress Shailene Woodley is. Also, Theo James played a very believable Four. I thought that Theo was much too
old for the role of Four when I first saw him in the trailer, but when I saw him act on the big screen he seemed so much younger and more convincing. Theo had a very good connection with Shailene which made their romance in the movie so fun to watch. Also, he was very good at looking robotic during the simulation scene. This definitely came in handy when Four was under the simulation Jeanine put on him and he looked terrifying while he was trying to attack Tris. Theo James is a fairly new British actor and he was very good at hiding his accent which is probably very hard to do. The main antagonist Jeanine Matthews
was also played very will by Kate Winslet. Kate looked exactly like how I pictured Jeanine. She appeared very sophisticated but also had an evil look to her. Jeanine, in the movie, acted like she wanted to help the Prior children pick their faction wisely, but in reality she really wanted them to be controlled and have no say in the matter. Kate also looked very much like an Erudite leader. She had that intelligent look that every Erudite member has. Also, for Kate's first time playing an evil character, she did an excellent job.
Next, the plot was action-packed and almost straight from the book. This is the part that
pleased me the most from the film. Some of the scenes were almost directly from the book. I was going to tell which scenes I liked the best, but I love them all too much and it would be impossible for me to pick just one. One of the scenes that was almost exactly from the book was the capture the flag scene. In this scene, we get to see Tris and Four climb the Ferris wheel in order to get a better view of the other team. I loved this part because the screenwriters kept some of the same dialogue between Four and Tris. Also, we get to see some action between the two teams. It was interesting to see the initiates become better soldiers and see how they applied their skills to a realistic battle. Also, the movie was good at transitioning from a slow-moving scene to a fast-paced, adrenaline-pumping scene. The action scenes in this movie were awesome! My heart was pounding for all of the characters that I grew even more attached to after seeing this movie.
Even though I enjoyed a lot of the scenes from the movie, there were some parts that were cut out from the book and some parts that were changed to fit the movie better. One key part that was
missing from the movie was the butter knife scene. In the book, Peter stabs Edward's eye out with a butter knife in the middle of the night. I know this part isn't really important, but I feel it should have been added to the movie to show the evilness of Peter. For me, this is one of the big parts that made me hate Peter. Also, the movie left out Al's crush on Tris. This was one of the main parts that led to Al committing suicide. Visiting Day was also left out from the movie, but was replaced with a different scene. This scene was very similar to the Visiting Day scene but it occurred after Tris had already visited Caleb at Erudite headquarters which led it to leave out the part when Tris's mother tells her to see Caleb to ask him about the serum. I'm sure there are a few other changes that I forgot to mention but I feel that the rest of the movie stuck to the move pretty well.
All in all, the Divergent movie was spectacular. If you have read the book, but are afraid to see the movie because you think it will ruin the book for you, I recommend that you still see the movie, you won't be disappointed. For those who have not read the book, I think that you should still give to movie a try because it is full of action and leaves you begging for the sequel.
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