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Review Of The Movie "Divergent"

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  • ROGER4314

    Been Called "Flash" Since I Was A Kid!
    Rating - 100%
    1   0   0
    Jul 11, 2009
    10,444
    66
    East Houston
    I saw the movie "Divergent" at the cheap Senior Citizen matinee today. I liked the flick very much and will share some of the high points today.

    First, I did not read the books, knew nothing of the story and went into the theater fresh off of the street. The books are very popular and many people are into the stories. I came into this stone cold and the movie picked me up, explained what it was about and shepherded me along perfectly

    The movie is a LONG one at 2 hours, 20 minutes so make sure you sit where you can get up to make a pit stop.

    The opening shots were especially well done showing a city that I knew well .......Chicago following a war that devastated our planet. I saw the Tribune Tower, many other well known Chicago landmarks all dressed up with battle damage. The kicker for me was an airborne shot showing the Chicago River all dried up with weeds growing in the river bed. The bridges that cross the river were all recognizable. As they panned, there it was....the elevated railway known as the "EL" in Chicago. It was all VERY well done!

    The story is complex but I'll give a nickle version of it. After the terrible war, the society was broken into "Factions" which were groups of people with similar personality traits:
    Some were business oriented, factual and capable.
    Another faction contained people who were giving, caring and in service to others.
    Still another faction had warriors who served as protectors of the others.

    There were several other factions but the bottom line is that people chose the group they believed they fit into best and that defined their role in society. The purpose of the factions was to eliminate future conflicts. One knew their role and there was no reason for conflict.................or so they thought! As always with Humans, power struggles between factions developed to gain control of the society.

    There were other groups who didn't fit in and who became street beggars and tramps. Others, the "DIVERGENTS" actually had traits of many factions. Divergents thought for themselves, followed no ruler and were considered dangerous threats to those in power (Note the similarity to today? Free thinkers are dangerous!) I would definitely be a "Divergent!"

    The story traces Beatrice, later called "Triss", as she makes the one time decision about her life group. She surprises everyone and breaks from the service oriented faction that her family belongs to and selects the warrior faction.

    I liked Beatrice! She wasn't terribly strong and had to learn toughness but he had no fear and that girl would try anything! She was fearless and had giant brass balls! Smart, independent, tough (later) but NO ONE pushed her around! She was my kind of girl! Unfortunately, Beatrice was a "Divergent" and she hid that under pain of death!

    We'll leave the story line there. It does get complex!

    I stayed hooked into this move the whole time! It kept me interested, passed my "snooze" test and also my "END" test. I did not want to see the movie end! I had to stay hooked into the story as it took many twists but not in a foolish way. It made perfect sense even to a viewer who had not read the books.

    There is plenty of physical violence which was not terribly gory. There were some "shoot outs", language was very mild, no sexual content and you can take your kids without scarring them for life. There was some romantic content but it had sweetness, not lust and humping.

    The down side? I didn't care much for the romantic content at the end. The movie was long but it told the story well.

    I gave "Divergent" an "A". I really liked the flick and my concerns about stepping into a story that everyone else knew (but I didn't) were unfounded.

    I ran into some problems walking into "Wolverene" without knowing the backstory. There were no such problems on "Divergent."

    Go see this flick. It's a great story! I might even read the books.

    Flash
    Hurley's Gold
     
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    ROGER4314

    Been Called "Flash" Since I Was A Kid!
    Rating - 100%
    1   0   0
    Jul 11, 2009
    10,444
    66
    East Houston
    Thanks for the kind words!

    When I retired 3 years ago, I promised myself to do only fun things from then on. If something isn't fun, then I'll MAKE it fun. If I can't make the task fun, then I won't do it at all.

    I have a great time checking out the flicks then sharing it with our members. I'm afraid that if this turns into a JOB, then it won't be fun any more.

    Flash
     

    Blayglock

    Active Member
    Rating - 100%
    4   0   0
    Aug 26, 2013
    318
    11
    San Antonio, TX
    My wife wanted to see this so I took her last week. I enjoyed the movie as well. At a minimum maybe books like this and the hunger games will provide an object lesson to our teens about disarming the populace.
     

    ROGER4314

    Been Called "Flash" Since I Was A Kid!
    Rating - 100%
    1   0   0
    Jul 11, 2009
    10,444
    66
    East Houston
    Good until it turns into a romance novel

    I must admit, the smooching was unwelcome. The entire movie was about her change from a meek girl into super girl. Then they turned her back into a teenaged girl with a crush.

    Yawn................

    Flash
     

    sonuvaTXgun

    TGT Addict
    Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    Feb 14, 2013
    4,918
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    Borger, TX
    Good until it turns into a romance novel

    I must admit, the smooching was unwelcome. The entire movie was about her change from a meek girl into super girl. Then they turned her back into a teenaged girl with a crush.

    Yawn................

    Flash

    I agree and that's why I gave it a personal rating of 7/10. The story and action were great until the lovey dovey crap came 'round.

    The idea of factions were similar to those of Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World" except that Divergent's factions were based on human personality traits as opposed to Huxley's factions based on varying levels of intelligence. I greatly enjoy dystopian novels and movies and Divergent was up pretty high along with "Brave New World," "1984," and "Equilibrium."

    Great movie review though, Roger!

    -PAK-
     

    ROGER4314

    Been Called "Flash" Since I Was A Kid!
    Rating - 100%
    1   0   0
    Jul 11, 2009
    10,444
    66
    East Houston
    Thanks for the kind words! It's been a great pleasure to be able to share what I learned by actually sitting in front of the screen. I'm certain that many movie reviewers are motivated by cash. After sitting in the theaters viewing "turds" that someone reviewed well, I learned not to trust their opinions!

    The only one that I took flack on was "Wolverene". I went into that flick totally unaware of the previous stories in the series, could not catch on and hated the flick. While that was MY fault for not researching the movie, I believe that each movie in a series should carry its own weight. A person who did not know the background of previous stories SHOULD be able to view the latest installment without confusion. In that context, the movie sucked and I stand by that review.

    Thanks, again!

    Flash
     
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    matefrio

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    Jan 19, 2010
    11,249
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    Missouri, Texas Consulate HQ
    So, as a person that read the book before seeing the movie I think they did a good job with the two. It took the full 2h 20min to squeeze the book in but still they left off some very key parts I believe.

    Spoilers book and movie below. I hope it gives some interest in the book although I primarily read it to enjoy with my kids who were reading it as well before the movie.





    The book was quite a bit more violent and harsh. The first time I was aware of this is watching the movie was when the new tributes jumped from the train. Not all of them made it in the book. There are several deaths not included in the move and violent acts.

    The scape of the city was more bleak at the start in the book. Something was very broken.

    Peter played by actor Miles Teller was a vicious kid who'd do anything to get ahead including taking someones eye out at night. He does a bunch of stuff including leading the kidnapping of Trish.

    Trish has a more rounded and deep relationship with some of the fellow students in the book there is better character development.

    Trish rises in the rankings faster in the book and that is the corner of her not being liked by some of the others. The movie they keep her down at the bottom.
     

    Kennydale

    Active Member
    Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    Jun 3, 2013
    905
    31
    Richmond/Rosenberg, TX
    Saw the film tonight with wife and her friend. we weren't disappointed. At the end I turned to my wife and said See what happens when you take guns out of the hands of citizens and only let one group have them.
     

    kabob

    Well-Known
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    0   0   0
    May 1, 2012
    1,195
    21
    Dallas
    I'm still struggling to reconcile an old geezer like you watching a young teen movie with a Hunger Games demographic :p
     

    ROGER4314

    Been Called "Flash" Since I Was A Kid!
    Rating - 100%
    1   0   0
    Jul 11, 2009
    10,444
    66
    East Houston
    I'm still struggling to reconcile an old geezer like you watching a young teen movie with a Hunger Games demographic :p

    That's a fair question. I see these movies as a scathing commentary of our future. Notice how our rulers always chip away at citizen rights? They never give us MORE freedom or opportunity.....always less. The logical end result of many years of this tightening of the leash is seen in movies like "Hunger Games" and "Divergent".

    I know..........this is where the tin foil hats come out but when the book/movie "1984" was still a futuristic story, we all said "No way, that's never gonna happen." Well, in fact, much of that "horror" story HAS happened! Intrusion of our government into our lives, unrestrained spying and reduction of our value as Human Beings and citizens is easy to see.

    These movies are a glimpse of our future. I'm old and won't be around to see it come to pass but you, your children and grandchildren are at risk.

    So..good question and an honest answer.

    Flash
     
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    benenglish

    Just Another Boomer
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    7   0   0
    Nov 22, 2011
    24,269
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    Got the Blu-Ray via Netflix and watched it tonight. This thread needs a YMMV tag.

    I thought Divergent was one of the most superficial, immature movies I'd ever seen. The villian is completely one-dimensional. The protagonist constantly made me want to yell at the screen "Just do it, already!" The love interest was wooden. The basic conceit of the movie, the division of society by personality types, struck me as the sort of oversimplified idea that would ferment in the head of a 12-year-old butthurt outcast geek. (I think I can speak with authority on that, having once been a 12-year-old butthurt outcast geek, myself.)

    It just hit me wrong, I guess. Or maybe I'm just grumpy. But, holy cow, this thing goes on my list of 10 worst movies I've seen in the last decade. I pretty much hated everything about it.
     

    orbitup

    Sticker Cop
    Rating - 100%
    13   0   0
    Nov 6, 2010
    27,436
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    Waxyscratchy
    Got the Blu-Ray via Netflix and watched it tonight. This thread needs a YMMV tag.

    I thought Divergent was one of the most superficial, immature movies I'd ever seen. The villian is completely one-dimensional. The protagonist constantly made me want to yell at the screen "Just do it, already!" The love interest was wooden. The basic conceit of the movie, the division of society by personality types, struck me as the sort of oversimplified idea that would ferment in the head of a 12-year-old butthurt outcast geek. (I think I can speak with authority on that, having once been a 12-year-old butthurt outcast geek, myself.)

    It just hit me wrong, I guess. Or maybe I'm just grumpy. But, holy cow, this thing goes on my list of 10 worst movies I've seen in the last decade. I pretty much hated everything about it.

    I saw it in on HBO in a hotel recently. I didn't like it either, for the same reasons. I do think I could put together a list of more than 10 movies I thought were worse though.
     
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