Okay – so, as someone who read the books, I feel like I knew where
this movie was going even less than someone watching it cold would. Allegiant,
adapted from the first half (three quarters?
kind of?) of the final Divergent
book, goes decidedly further afield than either of its predecessors in terms of
book faithfulness. Given the original novel’s unevenness, this isn’t always a bad thing, but it means I have almost no idea what next year’s final
installment will involve (premise spoilers, and spoilers for the previous
books, especially Insurgent.)
Quick plot stuff: Tris, her
friends, and her entire society have been rocked by the revelation that their
City is part of an elaborate experiment conducted by scientists who live in the
still-extant world outside the wall. Our
heroine leads a small group into this outside world, where they find a new
society divided into the genetically pure and the genetically damaged. David, head of the experiment, courts Tris
with the promise of all the healing her Divergence can bring to the world, but
their new surroundings aren’t all they appear to be.
In terms of the adaptation, the movie hits a handful of
highlights/important plot points from the book, though even the stuff that gets
included is mostly included differently.
But as I said, some of the changes work well for me. In particular, I think Four comes across much
better: smarter, more proactive, and
while the revelations he learns in this film still mess him up, he deals with
them more constructively. I also feel Evelyn
is slightly less unsympathetic, and I’m not entirely sure where they’re going
with Peter, but Miles Teller gives such good Entertaining Douchebag. Additionally, I like the increased focus on
the relationship between the Bureau and the Fringe.
Unfortunately, many of the changes that don’t work for me concern Tris.
First of all, I didn’t how like the “100% Divergent” thing added to the
second film made Tris much more of a Special Snowflake than she was in the
books, and that trend continues here.
Also, with the Bureau being more obviously-uncool from the jump, her
easy acceptance of what David tells her makes her look way more naïve than she
ought to be. My main issues after that
are less with what’s changed than with what’s taken out. As per usual, the supporting characters have
little to do. Christina is little more
than a footnote, Uriah is blink-and-you’ll-miss-him, and neither Amar or George
are there at all (if I recall correctly, that means that, in addition to
changing Evelyn (PoC – probably Latina) and Four (biracial) to white, the films
have removed all mentions of LGBTQ sexuality – Lynn was a minor character in Insurgent, but I believe they took out
any references to her feelings for Marlene. Boo!)
The adults fair a bit better; at least Maggie Q, Octavia Spencer, and
Daniel Dae Kim make the most of their incredibly-limited screentime.
As for new cast members, the only character we meet with much
focus is David, well played by Jeff Daniels.
However, there is a very brief
appearance by Xander Berkeley, Percy from Nikita. (First all the Nikita alumni on 12 Monkeys,
and now this. I love Nikita reunions, even when the actors in
question don’t have any scenes together.
Wonder if Maggie Q helped him get the gig?)
Warnings
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