Divergent

Dustin: 2.5 of 5 stars Nick: 2 of 5 stars Average: 2.25 of 5 stars (Canary on life support)

Dustin: Divergent is yet another YA movie set in a George Orwellian near future. It has all the staples of the genre: a heroine, Tris (Shailene Woodley), who is somehow different than the rest of society, a hunky male love interest, Four (Theo James), and lots of gorgeous young people solving problems made by grownups.

What did you think of Divergent?

Nick: Like The Host (another YA novel turned to film), the dystopian future is well crafted on the surface, but crumbles when you think about politics, factions, or anything deeper. Who cleans this dystopian Chicago?

Dustin: For those of you who haven’t seen the movie or read the book, the movie is set in a crumbling, near future Chicago. They never say what year, so I’m guessing 2017. Chicago has blocked itself off from the rest of the world, ostensibly to protect themselves from the outside. Society has divided itself into five factions: Abnegation (the do-gooders who run things and help the the faction-less), Candor (the lawyer-types),  Dauntless (G-men/Chicago's Olympic parkour team), Erudite (the academics) and Amity (dirty hippie farmers).

The setting crumbles when you realize society can’t function (at least, not a large city requiring constant infrastructure maintenance) with only these five jobs. We never see who takes out the trash, maintains the buildings, drives the train, cooks the food, or makes the clothes they’re wearing. The city is closed off from the rest of the world, so they’re clearly not importing these sexy, form-fitting clothes from China.

The filmmakers must've noticed this massive plot hole in the book and did their best to sidestep it, knowing they couldn’t fill the hole without drastically altering the story. They’re careful not to show the conductor of the train so the audience might not question it. But once you notice it, the whole narrative falls apart.

Nick: There are plenty of errors, but one that was front and center was Tris’s best friend, Christina, who failed in EVERY test, EVERY time she was shown on screen, and somehow ranked high enough to stay in the faction. While Tris, who is starting to nail everything, never gets bumped up more than 4 spots. Since two-thirds of this movie is watching Dauntless train, this was a giant miss-step.

Dustin: That’s a good point. We never see how the other recruits rank as it only focuses on Tris. Though if she barely squeaked through then its easy to imagine Christina wouldn’t have made the cut.

Nick: Did you feel any emotion while watching Divergent? There are many scenes where we are supposed to feel, but it always seemed forced or trivial.

Dustin: We knew Tris and Four were going to fall in love from the outset, since they're both attractive, but everything leading up to them falling in love was perfunctory. Especially when he takes off his shirt and reveals a tattoo of all five factions’ symbols. It seems like someone who was “divergent” wouldn’t be sufficiently vested in the system to tattoo the symbols on his back. Also, if you’re trying to hide the fact you’re divergent, getting a giant-ass tattoo with all the factions’ symbols isn’t the best way to hide it.

Nick: But it looks so cool! At least there isn’t a love triangle (yet)! Though, Four (who is named this way because HE IS THE RUNAWAY!!! OMG) has all the faction tattoos because he rebels against the system, but, as you say, is also stupid if you are trying to hide that you are “divergent.”

Dustin: The film tried too hard to make Four deep. When we first meet him, he is a douchey alpha male who is mean for no apparent reason. We’re supposed to guess he’s hiding an insecurity and he’s deeper than he seems. The film would've worked better if he was like Marlon Brando in A Streetcar Named Desire, and Tris just had an animal attraction for him. The romance would have been more believable that way. But then again, people would complain that Tris, being a strong woman, wouldn’t fall for a guy like that.

Nick: Well, that wouldn’t set a very good standard for impressionable tween girls, now would it, Dustin?

What’s up with neatly cut underground lairs in these YA movies? I wondered if they used the same set from The Host.

Dustin: It makes sense in The Host, because the humans were hiding from the one alien who was trying to root them out. But here, the G-men have no reason to hide, as they are a functioning and respected part of a smooth-running society.

Do you think they have a high mortality rate? You only see a few of the cops over 25 or so. Where are the Dirty Harry Callahans in this universe? The movie would've been better with a Dirty Harry-type as the protagonist. He would have just blown Kate Winslet’s head off with his .44 Magnum with an awesome one-liner. YA movies often assume that youth and innocence more than counterbalance years of experience and training.

Nick: While they were sparring it crossed my mind of how much brain damage each of them has suffered. This might be the worst training regiment I’ve witnessed in a movie. Did you recall seeing anyone noticeably younger than our heroine?

Dustin: Didn’t notice any children. I guess they all have to go to their sorting hat ceremony at a certain age, so we would have no reason to see anyone younger.

Was there anything you liked about this movie?

Nick: The CGI was fantastic. Another thing YA films do is cast a superb young actress as their weakly crafted heroine. Jennifer Lawrence (The Hunger Games), Saoirse Ronan (The Host) and Shailene Woodley in Divergent. They are all phenomenal actresses, but Woodley was the most convincing in her role.

Dustin: The acting and special effects in this movie were top notch. That’s what prevented me from giving it a lower rating. It speaks volumes about Woodley’s and James’s abilities that they could keep this movie afloat. The zip-lining scene from through the Chicago skyscrapers was probably the highlight of the movie.

Nick: Woodley and Miles Teller (Peter) were love interests in The Spectacular Now (one of my favorite films of last year) so it was hard for me whenever he was mean to Tris, and especially when he kicked her ass in training.

Dustin: That little movie connection actually made it a little more fun to watch for me. Teller is very good at playing cynical jerks, and he doesn’t disappoint here. Unfortunately, he’s not famous enough yet to turn down roles that are beneath him.

Nick: Teller has the same role in The Spectacular Now!

Dustin: He played the same role in 21 & Over.

Nick: I’m guessing he played the same role in That Awkward Moment, but I have no interesting in seeing it.

Dustin: Anything else you want to add about the Divergent?

Nick: One thing that will interest me in seeing the sequel is to know what's on the other side of that fucking wall. If they are Titans (Attack on Titan) I’m going to go apeshit!

Dustin: Divergent will be a trilogy, and I hope the sequels will expand and improve its dystopian world. While the script wasn’t particularly strong, it did have a coherent story that didn’t feel like they were making it up as they went along (like Twilight), even if the whole story was derivative.

Which faction would you belong to? I would be Slytherin.

Nick: I’d be factionless. (No talent)

Dustin: A muggle?

Nick: A half-blood. I wouldn’t fit in anywhere.