In terms of Young Adult film series (excluding standalone titles such as The Giver), Harry Potter and The Hunger Games stand on top as excellent entertainment and storytelling; after them there’s a significant drop in quality. If Hunger Games/Harry Potter are tier 1 (very good-great), and there’s nothing to fit in tier 2 (good-very good), then the Divergent series would be tier 3 (mediocre-good). The first film Divergent, was an intriguing dystopian piece for its first two-thirds, before crumbling into a disappointing array of clichéd action tropes. Its sequel Insurgent takes Divergent’s last third and lengthens it to a feature length film. An unfortunate way to go considering the plot’s vast possibilities, yet Insurgent is a surprisingly enjoyable (albeit nonsensical) action film; though who exactly its target audience is remains a mystery.
The story leaves off right where the first ended, with Tris (Shailene Woodley), Four (Theo James), Caleb (Ansel Elgort) and Peter (Miles Teller) hiding out as wanted fugitives framed for assault on Abnegation by the power-hungry tyrant Jeanine (Kate Winslet). I still can’t get over how bizarre it is to see Woodley share the screen with two co-stars from other films (Teller from The Spectacular Now and Elgort from The Fault in Our Stars, both who played lovers in their respective film) alongside Theo James (this film’s co-star and lover); it’s especially baffling considering Elgort's playing Tris’ brother while Teller is the villainous bully of the group, creating one of the most unintentionally entertaining aspects of the film. I have no idea why Tris allows Peter to hide with them considering he’s:
- A violent bully
- Emotionally abusive to Tris
- Incredibly untrustworthy
- Tried to kill Tris on multiple occasions
Despite these noble traits, Peter surprisingly betrays them as soon as the opportunity arises; it almost certainly would have been wiser to have simply killed him (or at least abandon him) before hiding. In fact a good majority of the conflicts/deaths could have been avoided if Tris had simply killed several characters during the last film’s finale; heck, Tris HAD Jeanine (the merciless hypocrite responsible for her parent’s deaths) at knife point where she could've easily sliced her throat. If she had, the majority of Insurgent’s conflicts and death would have been avoided; but hey, that would go against Tris’ moral against killing others…well, except for the train scene where Tris brutally murders several rebels in a largely avoidable brawl. So yeah, getting mixed signals here; I guess Tris is fine with killing nameless (morally ambiguous) enemies, but not prominent-to-the-plot (incredibly vile) villains? Insurgent contains a noticeably large amount of moral/practical plot holes throughout its story, enough for someone to understandably give-up caring about the film.
On the flipside for those who can begrudgingly look past such faults, Insurgent offers both entertaining action and creative settings. The battle torn city gives the film a gritty and enjoyably apocalyptic feel; the fight sequences are fast-paced and exciting even with the needlessly excessive shaky cam. The most entertaining sequences are when Tris faces the five faction simulations created by the mysterious artifact of the cities’ founders. The mental trials mix both action scenes with psychological battles of Tris’ mind, each one pertaining to a problem Tris has been facing. These sequences are Insurgent’s saving grace, providing imaginative dream-like settings, flashy action scenes, an enjoyable sense of misdirection over what is real or simulated, and a significant amount of character development for our protagonist. These scenes also smooth out some of Divergent’s flaws, such as providing additional time towards grieving and reconciliation for Tris and the death of her mother.
During the film’s credits, a fan of the Divergent series informed my wife and me how drastically different Insurgent is to its book counterpart, to the point where it was almost a different story. Her disappointment over such major changes leaves me questioning who Insurgent’s target audience is supposed to be. We can cross off fans of the book (a major portion of the viewers), Young Adult detractors and those who disliked the first film, leaving only teenagers who haven’t read the book and fans of the first film. My recommendation comes down to those who enjoyed the first film, haven’t read the books and are easy-going enough to enjoy a popcorn-ish action flick. Though I’m hesitant to call it a “good” film, I can say I enjoyed Insurgent as an entertainingly fun pastime.