Divergent

Except for the last twenty minutes or so, not exactly a stupid dystopia. But there’s a strong sense of the female element from the source material, so in places it has the spirit of magazines like 'Bravo Girl', or whatever the young girls of today are into (I’ve no idea). As long as they are just testing, it has an original atmosphere, but when they start shooting at the end and try to make an action spectacle, it rides the wave of films that are great material for parodies. And the ending simply killed the carefully constructed – and quite interesting – atmosphere. The comparisons with other contemporary popular sagas by female authors are warranted. Not the Twilight crap, but for example Hunger Games, which benefits from shameless rip-offs of other dystopian works (especially Battle Royale), entertained me a bit more and I didn't feel like banging my head against the wall, as I did with the overly dull conclusion of Divergence. (02/08/2014)

An action sci-fi that will have you riveted. There are conflicting reviews for this movie, so I wasn’t expecting much from it, but I must say that I enjoyed Divergent, enjoying every minute of it. I was thrilled by the satisfying plot and high-quality acting performances, and I must say that this deserves a sequel. The ending suggests that this will be the case, and I’m all for it. The only thing that spoiled the overall impression was its similarity to Hunger Games. It isn’t an exact copy, mind you, but all the way through I was somehow reminded of that movie, although that didn’t affect the score I gave. (28/07/2014)

This film’s world makes no sense, not even at its most elementary level. Why should permanent peace and quiet be guaranteed by dividing society into five fractions? The system separates children from their parents and creates hundreds of outcasts, and yet it seems that everyone quietly agrees with it and that it works? And if it does work and everyone is where they belong and there’s peace and quiet, why does this society need a cast of lawyers? And a police cast? Or, on the contrary, do these five narrowly defined casts have all the necessary professions? How many people live there? It doesn’t seem that a lot. And why I’m a bothering with this when the adolescent author of the book probably didn’t even think about it? And what was the conspiracy of the intelligent exactly about? I’m just asking. But it’s nice that there’s room for that adolescent cow (whom are supposed to root for, even though her first decision in the film can be summarised as “I don’t want to help people, I’m going with those sexy athletes because they are cool”) to fall in love with the beefcake. Bugger me! (01/08/2014)

Genre-wise, it is not as pure and systematically politically incorrect as Hunger Games, although there are certain parallels. The heroine, on the other hand, is similarly attractive and vital. There is also much less political subtext and much more survival and love story – by the way, it's okay, you can survive it. The main characters are extremely well-cast, the visuals are stylish, and the dialogues are smart and acerbic – enjoyed it, even though it's full of clichés and has quite uneven action that is gripping at times (full-contact fights) and confusing at others (shooting). That said, it’s good stuff for a wider audience. After Hunger Games, people were craving something new, here it will be like a new sandwich from KFC, not the best food in the world or a revolutionary novelty, but it generally tastes good to everyone. (01/05/2014)

Since I haven't read the book, I relied mostly on what the trailers showed, which really got me hooked. Personally, I love the sci-fi genre and I adore Kate Winslet, so I absolutely had to see Divergence. And I have to say, I got a pretty solidly made film with a likeable cast, a good story and an unforgettable soundtrack. In short, a movie that gave me exactly what I expected from it, so I was satisfied. (09/04/2014)