An Insurgent Review

Insurgent’s special effects overshadow a shallow plot line. For those who are fans of the books, you may be disappointed with the second film installment to Veronica Roth’s Divergent Series. I wanted so badly to like this film but the more I think about it – it was just a filler, that in-between the final chapter of the story. For those who are die-hard book fans there are details that either are forgotten or completely changed that appear on screen. My one major issue with the story line being changed (caution: spoiler alert) is there is no mention in the message to the factions about it being a distant relative of Tris Pryor. The dialogue comes across as dull and flat. The positives of the film were the scenery and the creation of the different factions we get to see on the inside. I would have liked to see a little more of Amity, personally.

On the other hand, the special effects were the focus and the story line was brushed to the wayside. Yes, the effects were visually appealing and felt very real on screen but sometimes they seemed distracting.  

I very much liked seeing Daniel Dae Kim as the Candor faction leader and felt like his role was one of the standout performances of the film. I would have liked to see a little more character development from Evelyn, played by Naomi Watts – for those who have not read the books it’s hard to grasp her story and how she became the leader of the factionless. For those who are a fan of Ansel Elgort – I couldn’t help but think back to the Fault in Our Stars and how in this movie they play brother and sister.

The beginning of the film seemed rushed – especially with Tris, Four, Caleb and Peter in Amity. The book spends quite a bit of time in Amity and there is a storyline from the books that involve Four’s Father – whom we do not see the rest of the film and the leader of Amity.

There are definitely pieces of the storyline that readers will be looking for but end up empty handed. This certainly creates an issue for those who may not even know the books. Such as the ‘peace bread’, etc. Just like with any book to movie adaptation there are some sacrifices the screenwriters have to make – I feel like they did a little too much editing and changing of the storyline to qualify this as a great adaptation. What is strange to me is that Veronica Roth was involved as a producer on the film and I can’t quite grasp how she allowed her story to be manipulated on screen.

Overall, the film was visually interesting and the scenes of fighting and interaction between the factions keeps the threads of this film together. I personally was disappointed in the second installment of this series and sets the tone for the rest of the films. We will have to see what Allegiant brings us and see if it can redeem the trilogy.

I give this a 6/10 Filmholic Rating.