*After 10 minutes
Nope! The fangirling mood is still here, but I'll proceed on with my Divergent film review.
Before reviewing Divergent, for those who didn't read the book, (*Spoiler Alert) Divergent is actually about futuristic Chicago and society has been split into 5 distinct factions according to their personalities. There are Abnegation (Selflessness), Amity (Kind), Candor (Honesty), Dauntless (Bravery) and Erudite (Intelligence). The story is actually based on the main protagonist, Beatrice 'Tris' Prior's perspective. People must go through an aptitude test to determine the factions they truly belong and it seems like the perfect way to divide the people. However, there is also one kind of people that can fit into several categories/factions, they're known as 'Divergent'. In this case, Beatrice's aptitude test results revealed that she could fit in several factions therefore being inconclusive, which also makes her a Divergent. At that time, being a Divergent is very dangerous because people like Jeanine Matthews (Main Antagonist) from Erudite thinks Divergent are threats to the system they're living now, so Beatrice has to keep her Divergent identity a secret to avoid being killed or removed from the system. During the choosing ceremony, where people are also given the chance to choose the factions they truly desire, Tris chooses Dauntless (Bravery) instead of her previous faction, Abnegation (Selflessness), and decided to leave her faction and family behind. Along the process of adapting her new lifestyle in her new faction, Tris changes her name from Beatrice to Tris and made some new friends like Christina (originally from Candor), Will (originally from Erudite), Albert or he goes by the name as Al (originally from Candor), Edward (originally from Erudite) and even made some new rivals other than Jeanine like Peter (originally from Candor) and Molly (originally from Candor). She also developed a romantic relationship with her instructor, Tobias 'Four' Eaton. Tobias, who goes by the name as Four during his days in Dauntless due to only having four fears, is originally from Abnegation but due to his father's abusive behaviour he chooses Dauntless instead of staying in his original faction. The Dauntless are injected with some sort of mind-controlling serum and was controlled to destroy Abnegation and sorting out Divergents. Along the process of shutting down the entire program and prevent Abnegation to be destroyed, Tris' mother, Natalie Prior, was shot dead after trying to protect her daughter and her father, Andrew Prior, too was shot dead for the same reasons like her mother. She eventually found the control room back in Dauntless and Four who was previously taken away after being sorted out as a Divergent, but got into a fight with Four before officially shutting down the program. Tris, Four, Marcus (Four's abusive father, who is also one of the council members in Abnegation), Caleb (Tris' brother) and Peter (who 'kind-of' helped them in the end) boarded the train and head towards Amity. That pretty sums it up, but trust me, the book was so good, I kept RE-reading it for several times.
As for the movie, I got to say it definitely stayed true to the book and it didn't really had any big changes like what they did to "Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief and Sea of Monsters" and I really appreciate that. First, I got to praise SHAILENE WOODLEY, who portrayed Tris Prior. I mean, if you watched the movie, you would probably understand what I'm saying. Many young generation know her through "The Secret Life of the American Teenager"; Older generations would know her through "The Descendants". In my case, I knew her through both and was definitely shocked when I heard she was cast as Tris because I never thought characters like Tris would actually be Shailene's thing. Originally, I never thought she could actually portray Tris, but after watching the movie, she is just a natural like how Jennifer Lawrence did with Katniss Everdeen in "The Hunger Games". Next, THEO JAMES! When I first heard he was cast, I was definitely skeptical with it because I never actually watched his acting performance before. Many would know him through "Downtown Abbey", where he played as Kemal Pamuk, the guy who 'deflowered' Mary and later died on a fatal heart-attack or his role as Walter William Clark, Jr in "Golden Boy", but I actually knew him through his role as David in "Underworld: Awakening". I was watching a few episodes of "Golden Boy" the other day and it was such a shame they cancelled the show because it was really good. Other than having Theo, the story line wasn't actually that bad like the way the critics said, but you guys should definitely watch it. Furthermore, I was actually really excited to watch Kate Winslet portraying Jeanine Matthews even though she is an evil leader from Erudite. I love and admire her ever since her debut in "Titanic" and I never stopped loving her. I actually watched "Labor Day" like few days ago with my parents and even they said she was amazing. I think she portrayed Jeanine really well despite it was an evil character and there is also Maggie Q who portrayed Tori in the film. Overall, I think Neil did a great job in the casting especially adding Veronica Roth, who goes by a Dauntless member, in the zip-ling scene. I mean, who could imagine the author and creator of Divergent would actually participate in it. It's so cool!
I give a score of 4.0/5. I think this movie definitely was better than "The Hunger Games" and "Twilight" but is still a few steps behind "Catching Fire". They could have done a better work, but still it was enjoyable and entertaining, much like the book.
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| The Official Movie Poster of Divergent |
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| The society of futuristic Chicago are separated into 5 factions: Abnegation (Selflessness), Amity (Kind), Candor (Honesty), Dauntless (Bravery) and Erudite (Intelligence). And the rare species of 'Divergent', people who can be fitted into several categories and are presumed to be threats to their society. |
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| Also a Movie Poster, but with the official cast members in their own personal tattoos after joining Dauntless. |
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| Academy Award Nominee Shailene Woodley in the cover of the 2013 November issue of Elle Magazine. She portrayed the main protagonist, Beatrice 'Tris' Prior. |
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| Shailene Woodley as Tris Prior in the film adaption of Divergent. |
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| Famous for his role in "Downtown Abbey" and "Golden Boy", Theo James portrayed one of the main protagonist and Tris' love interest in the film adaption of Divergent. |
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| Theo James portraying Tris' instructor in Dauntless and eventually developed a romantic relationship. Theo is ready to kick-butt in his portrayal as Four. Credits: Entertainment Weekly. |
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| I just couldn't get over Tris and Four or Six and Four (if you already read the book). Their undying love and the will to protect each other from harm are one of the few reasons I couldn't keep my hands of the book and my eyes off the movie. |
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| Did anyone realized I'm also a #SHEO shipper? Yup! I'm all about Shailene Woodley and Theo James right now! |
There is all I got to say about Divergent. I scored the movie 4.0/5 because:
1) They stayed true to the book, however, there were few changes in the movie, but it definitely didn't change the story line or anything like that.
2) I think Neil is a great director and he directed Divergent really well. I enjoyed what he did to the casting. Love Shailene Woodley, still fangirling over Theo James and I just adore Kate Winslet even though she was portraying an evil character.
3) They built a perfect futuristic Chicago, much like what I pictured it in my mind.
4) I think they should have shown the scene where Peter attacked Edward and both Edward and Molly became factionless. That scene would definitely show the true nature and the morality people still have in that society.
5) There were several scenes where I think Neil was rushing it. Like, there were several scenes were really short and sometimes really messy but still it stayed true to the book.
I just hope the sequel to Divergent, "Insurgent" would be better than "Catching Fire" and just hope that the director of "Allegiant" would changed the ending like what Veronica wanted. Other than that, it's a really realistic and touching movie. You should watch it in your nearest cinema or maybe buy the book in your nearest bookstore and start fangirling over it. I did that when I started reading it for the first time. I actually spent 3 hours reading it and eventually finished it by 3 hours because it was so addictive and WOW!
Anyway, if you're a Divergent fan like me, do subscribe to my blogs, "My Little Book Affairs" and "Le Blog de Nicole" for more Divergent information. You can also follow me on Twitter: @NicoleWong1998 , Instagram: CameraStyleMe or even Pinterest: Nicolette 'Nicole' Wong for any recommendations, suggestions and comments. You can also comment on the box below. And if you're a #SHEO shipper, do post a picture and hashtag like this #SHEO ,I would surely retweet or favourite your tweet on Twitter.
Bye! For now!
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