Divergent

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. (29/07/2014)

It is hard to say whether it's because Neil Burger is obviously maturing into a top director, but he managed to take reasonably successful source material and turn it into the most surprising film of the year. Even the first installments of the genre-similar Hunger Games pale in direct comparison, despite their stronger literary foundation, as they lacked a greater connection and subtle explanations in the adaptation. Divergence does this perfectly. The transformation of the main heroine is emphasized until the last sentence, making Shailene Woodley probably the most attractive Hollywood commodity for those aged 20 and above. Maybe it was thanks to the room full of twelve-year-old girls who were leaping into each other's arms with joy that they had actually made it to the highly anticipated premiere, but the atmosphere of the five factions chewed me up much more forcefully than I expected. I don't want to be just one thing. (02/05/2014)

I expected a lot, but I definitely didn’t expect a distinguished post-apocalyptic world adaptation. And that made me happy. The story was a lot of fun and I have a feeling that I’ll go see the sequel at the cinema. Although, the story reminded me of the arrival of the little pupils to Hogwarts and their subsequent sorting into individual groups. Then it was a little like Hunger Games for a change. But as a result, it still had its own little world which has a potential to develop further and I’m personally very curious about the sequel. I was also happy about Junkie XL who made such a good electronic soundtrack, even though it might not have been completely of his own writing. I also liked that the authors succeeded at the tactic of fresh-faced actors. I simply liked it and now I wonder – what about the sequels? (15/08/2014)

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. (02/05/2014)

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. (03/08/2014)