After the intriguing tie-in promotion with experimental virtual reality technology (via Variety) and 3D posters, the much anticipated film Insurgent based on the second instalment of the bestselling YA (Young Adult) book trilogy Divergent has been released.
Insurgent, written by Veronica Roth, follows up with Tris Prior (Shailene Woodley) and Four/Tobias Eaton (Theo James) who have escaped from the growingly tyrannical Erudite faction, where citizens are allocated according to their personality and aptitude to ensure stability. This faction is led by Jeanine (Kate Winslet) who had previously organised an attack on their rival Abnegation faction in the first film.
In Insurgent, Tris and Four find allies in Four’s mother Evelyn (Naomi Watts) and the “factionless” (those who don’t fit in any faction), who plan to overthrow the system. Meanwhile Jeanine and her fellow Erudites are busy twisting the truth: Tris and Four are the ones responsible for the disaster that fell on Abnegation, and therefore are declared dangerous, sparking a manhunt. The duo are identified as “divergents” (those who don’t fit in one faction but all) and are considered to be a threat to their society.
Insurgent is an improvement on the first film which follows a similar path to The Hunger Games – that is, mainly targeted to teens and YA’s. There’s more action and seriousness in this sequel but romance takes up a large percentage of the screen-time. I’m all for romance but it is just so laden in this film that it becomes distracting rather than raising the stakes. It’s set in a dystopian world and the couple are always on the run – we don’t have time for smoochin’. And even though Tris fights on her own, I noticed that she is saved by Four several times.
Why?
She was fine doing things without help in the first, but I guess the directors are trying to stress that she isn’t flawless or a Mary Sue.
I expected more screen-time for Kate Winslet. Jeanine is a great villain who is calm, calculating and intelligent. At times, she seemed a little stiff and then (laughably) dramatic when she gets extremely frustrated or show signs that she’s human after all. I don’t think that Jeanine needed a backstory so that the audience could be conflicted for her – she’s the way she is and that’s final, and heck, she’s the most multi-dimensional character in the film.
There wasn’t much to feel for the protagonists and the rest – some even came out as caricatures. There was some emotion but it was on surface level and quite fleeting. The acting in Insurgent played a part in this – it was stale and at times, you could tell that they weren’t in the moment. The characters’ plight was understandable but I didn’t care about them as individuals because they weren’t relatable like The Hunger Games characters who are more complex and make you feel that you should care.
Unexpectedly, Insurgent had a happy and hopeful ending for a dystopian film and especially in contrast to the rest of the film.
SPOILER ALERT:
However, judging by Jeanine’s execution, things might be getting darker for the sequel Allegiant Part 1, which is set to release on March 18, 2016. Yes, another one of those last entries being split into two movies. Sigh. Someday the last instalment of a trilogy or series will be just one movie.
On the positive side, the visual effects team must be applauded for mixing the reality and the illusion together to make us share an experience akin’s to Tris’ when she’s in the simulation tests; tests in which she faces life-threatening scenarios, where it’s easy to forget that they aren’t real.
The visual effects for the ‘reality’ are well done whilst those for the ‘simulation’ are obviously fake and an eyesore. However, when the distinction isn’t there, you wouldn’t know that you’re seeing an illusion until there’s a signal – Tris waking up or the scene cutting to another.
Insurgent is no Hunger Games and it might disappoint post-apocalyptic/sci-fi fans because of its softcore-ness and clichés. It could’ve done more than give us a rerun of the tropes we’ve come to know already. Despite this, Insurgent does have some perks and hopefully the sequel is a bit more… divergent.
Fashion Industry Broadcast’s Rating: 5/10