Here we go again, another YA novel movie adaptation which tries to
capitalize on the popularity of the Hunger Games but fails miserably. This would be fine if it hadn't happened a
bunch of times already (I’m looking at you Mortal Instruments).
Divergent capitalizes on the public’s current obsession with dystopian science fiction but fails to create a story which is either emotionally charged or particularly exciting
The story focuses
on Beatrice, a citizen of the destroyed city of Chicago 100 years after the “end
of the world”. She lives in a society
separated into five factions which are designed to keep people in line based on
their personality traits. Beatrice belongs
to Abnegation which is the selfless class and the ruling government
body. However, at the age of 16 every
member of society is allowed to choose which faction they wish to be a part of. Once the decision is made, there is no going
back. Beatrice much decide between the
safe decision of staying with her family or the hard decision of leaving them
behind forever and joining the military faction Dauntless which she has always
envied. If she joins them and fails, she
risks becoming faction-less and having to live on the streets with no food or
shelter.
Before choosing, Beatrice is evaluated only to find out
that she is a Divergent meaning she fits into not one but three
categories. Her evaluator hurries her
out the door and tells her never to speak of this. Divergents threaten the system which has kept
this society in line for over a century and are thus eliminated. When the time comes, Beatrice decides to join
Dauntless and leaves her family behind to start her new life. The trials are difficult but she manages to
pick herself up after every fall and keep working at it, determined to
succeed. Eventually, Beatrice finds
herself at the center of a plot to overthrow Abnegation by the intelligence
faction Erudite. Beatrice must work
together with her Dauntless instructor Four to try and save her old
faction.
The story has more
holes in it than I know what to do with and was predictable from start to finish. There are so many questions, which makes it
difficult to take the concept seriously.
Why don’t the faction-less rise up and overthrow the others? Why does no one have any desire to leave the
city of Chicago? Are there other
settlements around the country or the world?
It’s been over 100 years since the end of civilization and no one has
once thought about trying to contact other pockets of survivors? Are we meant to believe that Chicago was the
only place to survive? And these are
just the big questions! Beatrice’s
decision to leave her faction and join Dauntless is supposed to be emotional
because she will never get to see her family again and yet she takes a Saturday
stroll to see her brother in Erudite one afternoon as if it’s no big deal. I could go on and on. In the end, the issue is that humans are far more complex and free thinking than this system implies. It just wouldn't hold up for the 100 years it has.
Now let me take a
minute to confess that I haven’t read the books. Many of these questions may be answered in subsequent
sequels. But the questions weren’t the
only problem with the film. The sub par
romance between Beatrice and Four was predictable and completely unnecessary. The films climax is over in 15 minutes and
even that is far too long as a mind controlled Dauntless army stands ready to
shoot every member of Abnegation awaiting only the Erudite leader’s final
command. But in typical Bond villain
fashion, an exorbitant amount of time is wasted allowing Beatrice and Four to
save the day.
Overall, the film felt
hurried and poorly thought out. When
this genre is done correctly, it can make for an exciting film for all ages as
in the case of movies like Enders Game
or Percy Jackson and the Lightning Theif. But Divergent
was a prime example of a movie that left WAY too much to the imagination which
for someone over the age of 18, was hard to overlook. Unless you can relate to Beatrice on a
personal level (i.e you’re a teenage girl who doesn't feel like she fits in, but
can overcome any obstacle if she puts her mind to it) than the film just isn't
for you.
Eh. That sums it
up. The highly anticipated crime drama Black Mass directed by Scott Cooper was
good but ultimately, could have been significantly better. Living in the Boston area, everyone and their
mothah was wicked excited about the movie about South Bawston’s own Whitey
Bulgah. Many in this area have vivid
memories of the notorious crime boss and his penchant for violence. After the media storm surrounding his capture
and trial in 2011, it made sense for Hollywood to cash in and the result is a film
that follows all the standard “mafia movie” tropes. As a result, the movie comes across as an
amalgam of themes, scenes, and dialog that feels straight out of BETTER
organized crime dramas of the past. That
being said, the film is essentially a story about the character of Whitey
Bulger – a man whose brutality has become myth.
In this respect, it was well done.
Johnny Depp’s portrayal of Bulger while over the top at times felt
authentic and conveyed the deep seated madness behind the family man from
Southie. Regardless, you’re always aware
that it’s Johnny Depp (the problem with such recognizable actors) and you’re
even more aware that Depp’s accent is false.
Given, he does a pretty phenomenal job as fake Boston accents go but it’s
still a hurdle to get over that distracts you from the dialog (which admittedly
has its ups and downs). Supporting
actors Benedict Cumberbatch as Billy Bulger and Joel Edgerton as dirty cop
John Connolly are shadowed by Depp and feel almost unnecessary. It would have been nice to focus solely on
Bulger himself and not get bogged down with the story of Connolly’s role in
getting Bulger set up as an informant for the FBI. Overall, the film was OK but disappointing in
that it could have been great.