Movie: Insurgent (Divergent #2)
Release Date: March 18, 2015
Language: English
Director: Robert Schwentke
Based on: Insurgent (novel, Divergent #2) by Veronica Roth
Stars: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Ansel Elgort, Miles Teller and many more great actors!
To see Insurgent or not to see Insurgent wasn’t a question: of course I went to see it! I went to the midnight ‘premiere’ in my hometown. I wanted to re-read Insurgent, but didn’t finish it in time. I’m on a third. It got me excited, though. After watching the first trailers, I wasn’t so sure this movie would be as good as Divergent. I loved the adaption of Divergent, though I think it was too polished. It was all too perfect. The trailers of Insurgent, however, didn’t represent the movie very well. Only the last trailer did, fortunately. I think I just expected SO much of this movie, that I couldn’t watch the movie unbiased. But, after two hours in the cinema, I came out pretty much flabbergasted. In a good way!
“One choice can transform you-or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves–and herself–while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love. Tris’s initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable–and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships. Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.” [IMDb]
First of all, I was distracted by the fact that the movie was in 3D. I just couldn’t concentrate on the movie, I was just looking at the screen as if something wasn’t quite sharp. And I know it wasn’t just me, because Esther, co-author and roomie, experienced the same thing. I will come back to this later on in my review, since I do not want to start spoiling the movie in the first few sentences.
The movie started off with Tris, Four, Peter, Marcus and Caleb running to the Amity compound to find shelter. At the same time, we see the city of Chicago: ruined and destroyed. Jeanine blames the Divergents for the drama and horror that have happened. This isn’t featured in the book, of course, since we see it from Tris’ POV. This element was added to the movie, and I liked it. I actually was pretty much in shock of all the destruction.
What happened next, was a big blur of emotions, actions, decisions, nightmares, kisses and tears. I wasn’t really concentrating on whether it was close to the book, because after 10 minutes I already made peace with the fact that it wouldn’t be close to the book. So yeah, that didn’t completely bother me, fortunately.
I think that the filmmakers tried to make it science-fiction-ish and succeeded. But it did miss the raw drama that I experienced during reading the book. It was, again, a bit too polished. I gotta admit that I think the actors did a GREAT JOB. They were a-ma-zing.
Shailene did one scene, under the truth-serum, and it was sooooo good. I got goosebumps all over me and felt the pain Tris felt. It was so real. She acted so well. I mean: you could see the internal struggle in her head. It was heartbreaking. I actually wanted to cry with her. And Four just standing there, Christina being all “why didn’t you tell me bitch” and I just wanted to hug her. Hug Tris. Because she’s a victim too. She couldn’t help it. Tell me you wouldn’t do the same in her situation.
Theo did good on Four. He was still sexy and handsome, yet thoughtful and strong. I liked the fact that his relation ship with Marcus was in the movie, but not too overwhelming. I mean: we hadn’t even seen his mom yet. When she was introduced, I thought: wow this ain’t his mother this is his sister. She looked so young. I just imagined her much older. But somehow, it worked for me.
Miles, oh Miles, I LOVED you in Insurgent. I didn’t quit like you in Divergent, but you transformed Peter and did an amazing job! I mean: this movie would’ve been too serious and heavy without your hilarious input. You made Peter the most sarcastic person in YA Dystopian history. Don’t think Veronica could have done it any better. I believe that Peter was in a struggle too, and I believed it because of the actor who played him, Miles Teller. So thumbs up to him, congratz, you made me laugh while the world was falling apart.
There’s one thing I’d like to say about Ansel: you made Caleb SOOO innocent. I hated him in the books, but because of you, I just couldn’t. Oh, and by the way, the way you run is just HILARIOUS.
Back to the 3D complaints: like what the hell were they trying to accomplish? The woods distracted me because it felt like I was being attacked by branches and got distracted from the conversations. And the birds? AGAIN? Why? It just was a big too much for me. It got better though, don’t worry. You just have to get trough the first couple of minutes. Halfway through, I didn’t even notice the 3D anymore. Actually, the 3D started to complement the scenes! When Tris was under the truth-serum, the 3D made it all very cool en fancy. So yeah. Basically, in the beginning, they tried too hard with the 3D, but at the end, it worked.
I’m not going into details about whether the plotline of the book was the same as the plotline of the movie. Because it isn’t, not in details anyway. But that doesn’t matter, because most of the bigger part of the story came true. The message was loud and clear and I think some things were changed for a purpose – I just don’t know all of the purposes yet. Anyway, I believe it was okay. It could’ve been better but this is what we have.
Over all, I think Insurgent is a exciting adaption. It’s very visual, the music is great and the fight scenes are pretty intense (even more intense than in the book). I do think they shouldn’t have changed the ending, because there is a lot of unfinished business they have to take care of in order to adapt a believable Allegiant movie. I’m okay with it. It didn’t notice that two hours had already passed by and that said, the movie was better than I expected it to be. I had high hopes but also big fears. I don’t think the movie lived up to my expectations (neither my fears), but I was pretty much positive when I left the movies last night. Positive about the movie.
In a nutshell:
Liked it: YES
Loved it: Sure!
Re-watch: Definitely
Cinema worthy: YES, take the 3D if you can for the effects (halfway to the end!!)
