Review of Divergent

Divergent (2014)
1/10
It is upon us...
18 March 2014
"I don't want to be one thing, I want to be good, honest, & kind." It is here. Like kids waiting for cookies in the oven. The moment of truth has come. From the beloved book by Veronica Roth, Hollywood has their grasp on this baby, diaper inside out. So how was it?

I always wanted to see a 60s, 70s stylized sci-fi, Pink Floyd inspired. Unfortunately, the style nowadays settles with fake, eye-rolling & desensitizing teen material, separating young people's appreciation with good cinema for this. So where does Divergent fit in? Come on, where doesn't it? This is the epitome of modern-day, 3-week cinematic hit, & forgotten two star snore on a Sunday afternoon 2 years from release on Shaw. Yeah, the acting, the story, & the vision here is flat all around. These actors will get their fame & clinch a lifetime spotlight in Young People's magazine, & TMZ laughs. So it's another wretched teen blockbuster. The look of this dread, it's disgusting & destroys my palette.

I believe a Juno-quirky teenage styled flick, fused with an intense sci-fi is an interesting conception. However, the game plan & execution results show. Now Imagine a Rainbow, Pull-n-peel licorice, if each peel was a different color & was pre-pealed, & each peal defined a film genre, you'd have the layout for Divergent.

It's not free nor comfortable. To satisfy hormone-confused teens, they heavily coat it with held-back character interactions & motivations, never reaching or exploring above or below the norm. Maintaining teen-equilibrium content of an awkward nature, which in itself is awkward, with one somehow managing to free themselves & enjoy that in an unbelievably grand fantasy universe as it's backdrop. Tis unmixed, left to dry. Too afraid of doing or even trying. It remains a scattered vision not knowing what it is, forgetting what it is, & leaving asking the critic's swear word: why?

There's a big twist. I read the book, & it is a rhythmically flowing experience filled with page-turning thrills and emotion. The film, which many passion-lacking productions exploit easily, breaks down the story to so many different visions, it's as if several directors manhandled the project. The story was compromised in the process. Nothing was clear nor soothing or enduring. Every 5 minutes I felt I needed to re-engage myself because the music went off the page too often to care.

It is on the verge of a Broken Picture. Maybe that's the vision, a new revolution in cinema we are yet to settle with. Maybe this picture is ingenious in every way. You'll have to go see for yourself, if you dare to tread such sociopathic material. Be my follower, Diver.
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