I was lucky enough to be at the advanced screening of Divergent at the Cineplex Odeon, and might I just start off this blog post with a moment of appreciation. (Cue silence.)
I was going into this with very high expectations, since I did read the book about 6 times and had imagined it in my head for the past two years, and I was not disappointed. Although the casting decisions were slightly dodgy (we’ll get into that) I must say that the set, acting, and technical aspects completely blew me away. With hype equal to that of The Hunger Games, it would have been a huge let-down if the Divergent movie progressed in a similar fashion. That is a whole other topic I will not get into, so for now let’s just dive into this review.
Cast: ♔♔♔
We’re starting off low because I don’t want it to feel like I’m gushing over this movie too much, but I completely am. In my mind, and as the book repeatedly describes, Tris is a small girl, which is one of her many qualities that draws people to want to protect her. Although Shailene Woodley is gorgeous and a good actress (I look forward to freaking out over TFIOS), her physique definitely did not fit the description of Beatrice Prior. Her collarbone tattoo was also a major let down. I didn’t have too many problems with the casting for Four/Tobias, but he didn’t play the intimidating aspect of the character to its full extent. Plus the real actor is 29 years old and did not pull off 18 very convincingly (although I did hear rumours that the ages of the characters were changed?). Other than those two major flaws, Christina was supposed to be way taller than Tris, and I feel like their figures got swapped in this movie. As with The Hunger Games, many of the side characters you grow to love and sympathize with are not included. In both THG and Divergent, I feel like the only drawback to this is not having as much of an emotional drive in the main character’s motives when the movies for Insurgent and Allegiant roll out.
Cinematography: ♔♔♔♔♔
The set almost everything was exactly the way I pictured it to be, and in some scenes it was even better. I feel an extreme amount of CGI was put into this movie in order to make the city (not revealing the city name due to spoilers) look old and war-torn, and it was done so well considering all of the overhead shots and panoramas of the city. All I have to say is that the pit was not circular as portrayed in the book, but it didn’t take away from the effect of the movie, so all is well.
Progression: ♔♔♔♔
Many had complaints regarding the progression of Divergent, although I for one feel it was justified. Divergent is a book with so much detail, imagery and explanations behind motives, beautifully done so by Roth to really indulge us into her fantasy world. As with any movie, even the biggest fans would not be willing to sit through a five hour movie, okay maybe they would. The pace was very rapid, jumping from one scene to the next and missing out on some scenes that really captured my attention in the book. I feel like the movie directors got through the main points of the book so that someone who didn’t read it would still understand the plot. Overall, I can’t say that the scenes included were not done beautifully so, and they did a really good job pulling me into that world.
This was a short review since I don’t want to put too many of my opinions into any of your heads before you watch the movie, which you all must definitely do. Judging from how great Divergent was, I have even higher expectations for the next two in this trilogy.