Director: Robert Schwentke
Cast: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Miles Teller, Ansel Elgort, Naomi Watts, Kate Winslet, Jai Courtney
Certificate: 12
Running Time: 112 minutes
Ever since Harry Potter and Twilight spearheaded the craze of turning young adult fiction into films we’ve had a plethora of book-to-screen adaptations. Some have been good, others so not much. The current crown holder is of course The Hunger Games, but the franchise reaches it’s conclusion later this year with Mockingjay Part Two. There are many contenders waiting to snatch the crown away from Katniss and the Divergent series is just one franchise that is biding it’s time.
Starring Shailene Woodley, the series follows the antics of young woman Tris who seeks to change her dystopian world. Set during an undisclosed time period in the remains of a ruined Chicago, society has bundled itself behind a wall and has separated itself into ‘factions’. These groups value different qualities over others; Amity are all about peace, Erudite – Intelligence, Abnegation – selflessness, Candor – truth and Dautless – bravery. At sixteen each member of the society must undergo a test to find out which faction they belong to, but our heroine Tris discovers that she is ‘Divergent’, that is, someone who doesn’t belong in any one faction, but rather she has elements of several i.e. she’s a normal person. Her divergency is seen as a threat to the controlled system and she and her allies find themselves hunted.
Sequel to last year’s Divergent, Insurgent picks up mere days after the conclusion of it’s predecessor with Tris, and love interest Four, in hiding. They can’t stay hidden for long though as villainess Jeanie (Winslett) is hot on their tails, this time requiring a divergent to open a mystic Pandora’s box of mystery.
Fans of the first film will find plenty to enjoy and there are some great performances from all involved. Sadly it will never be it’s biggest rival, The Hunger Games, with proceedings feeling a little too much style over substance. Everything in Insurgent looks slick, futuristic and stylish enough, but there isn’t really much in the way of complex storytelling.
Insurgent is out now on digital download, and is available to buy on Blu-Ray and DVD from 3rd August.
