The Divergent series gets the special treatment around here at The Young Folks. As fans of the book and the first movie, we were really excited for the sequel, Insurgent. Since four (LOL) of the TYF writers had a chance to see the movie earlier this week, we chose to share our thoughts on film through a conversation with each other.
The playing field is even. Two of us have read the books and remain fans, while the other two have only seen the movies. Read on below to see what Gaby, Melissa, Allyson and Jon have to say about Insurgent.
**MAJOR MOVIE & BOOK SPOILER WARNING**
Gaby: Let’s commence the second annual four-way conversation on the Divergent series! What are your overall thoughts on the movie?
Melissa: I thought it was okay. It starts out exciting but then loses its flare with so many simulations, which some I found cheesy. The new characters are quite forgettable, and the other cast members aren’t as charismatic this time, apart from Miles Teller–who is hilarious in the film. Overall, it was enjoyable, but it doesn’t make a lasting impression.
Allyson: So, I was one of the few people who loved Divergent for what it was, and it’s pretty much the same thing for Insurgent. No, it’s not a “great” film, but I was entertained the entire time, and for that type of film that I’ve seen before, it’s what I was looking for.
Jon: I was not fond of it, aside from the fleeting moments that A-listers were part of the scene. They basically made this film bearable for me.
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Gaby: It was better than expected, but I agree–the story itself barely makes an impression. But I thought the performances were far better in this one than in Divergent.
Melissa: Really? I felt as though the acting wasn’t as good.
Gaby: Except for Kate Winslet!
Allyson: Yeah, I thought the movie benefited from some decently committed performances from the younger cast.
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Gaby: I thought the acting was far more natural. Shailene was good in it.
Allyson: Shailene has the ability to make me get emotional just by crying onscreen.
Jon: Also, I still haven’t been able to get over how heavy-handed this film and its moral is.
Melissa: What do you mean, Jon?
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Allyson: Jon, I know what you mean. It’s the issue I had with the film.
Jon: Okay, so this society is basically separated by certain characteristics.
Gaby: Speaking of heavy-handed, just wait until Allegiant.
Allyson: I read the synopsis of Allegiant the other night after the screening…I didn’t feel like reading the book.
Melissa: NO ONE feels like reading it when they find out.
Jon: I don’t even want to know. Do I?
Gaby: No. It doesn’t make sense anyway!
Allyson: Wiki it.
Melissa: Let me ask the non-book readers—does the movie intrigue you to learn what is beyond the wall?
Allyson: Not really, Melissa.
Jon: Anything to get the hell of dystopian Chicago. I’m ready for a change.
Melissa: LOL, Jon.
Allyson: But in all honesty, none of the plot points in the film are really intriguing. I enjoy it for reasons other than the storytelling. LOL
Gaby: Plot aside, the movie does have fun and goes all out.
Melissa: I feel like, “Why leave now that Jeanine is gone?”
Jon: I’m ready for this to stop being as obvious as to make the “savior” a person with a balanced personality.
Melissa: Do you wonder what makes her the ONLY 100% Divergent person? Isn’t she the “most”? She’s the only one who did all five simulations…
Gaby: I think this movie proves she’s the least Divergent. LOL
Allyson: It’s such an obvious trope now in YA books for there to be the “one” special character. Not that, it doesn’t really make me wonder why. Plot convenience is my assumption.
Jon: Yes there is, but seriously, she is not a savior. She was a passenger in this movie. All of her decisions were made for her.
Melissa: Jon, that’s true!
Jon: I actually wrote down how many decisions she made for her self. It was two. She chose to turn herself in and then to finish the sim test at the end. Everything else was Four’s choices.
Gaby: Because of everything that happened, Tris doesn’t trust herself, which is probably she was relying on others to make decisions.
Jon: Tris was ready to kill another person, but she’s also still racked with guilt about her last kill.
Gaby: I’m glad that got that across about her character. In the book, she has TOUGH time. I liked that the author didn’t skip out on the PTSD.
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Gaby: I feel like Four is more balanced. His character does a total 180 from the last one.
Melissa: The ideas came from Four.
Allyson: I was going to say that Four is like an entirely new character.
Melissa: He’s softer in this. In the book, they have more relationship conflict.
Gaby: In Divergent, he’s all stoic and mean, and the first scene in Insurgent, he’s playing with kids. I was like “Whoa.”
Allyson: I liked him/Theo James more this time though too; so maybe it helped.
Jon: Four is the real hero. She is just the catalyst for revolution.
Melissa: What do you guys expect to see/explained in Allegiant?
Allyson: Four’s Mom is going to screw things up.
Gaby: Sort of OT, but Naomi Watts looks more like Four’s sister.
Melissa: She does!
Jon: I love Naomi Watts as a brunette.
Melissa: It PISSED ME OFF that they didn’t cast a woman of color like she’s supposed to be!!!!
Allyson: Yeah, that 16 year old age difference between the actors wasn’t very convincing. LOL
Jon: She reminded of a pirate queen surrounded by all her misfits. Almost every single important character is white. I was not okay with that.
Allyson: #Hollywood
Melissa: Four is mixed race, and it would have been awesome to see that.
Gaby: I was really hoping for that too!
Allyson: It’s grown so tiresome, and it’s always even more aggravating in young adult films where most of them are in dystopian settings. There’s no excuse not to have diverse casts.
Jon: Then again, so is The Hunger Games.
Allyson: Yeah, the white washing in The Hunger Games pissed me off.
Gaby: I mean this is Chicago; there aren’t just white people here.
Jon: Yeah, I was trying to find someone that looks like my ethnicity. I think I almost found one in the CGI mass crowd.
Melissa: Uriah, Maggie Q…that’s it.
Jon: Maggie Q was such a background character this time around too.
Melissa: Yeah, the secondary and new characters didn’t really spark.
Jon: Making way for Naomi Watts probably. Can someone explain to me what a factionless is?
Allyson: A Squibb.
Gaby: Someone who didn’t test into a faction, like their results were inconclusive.
Jon: I remember the vague movie description, but what is a book reader’s one?
Melissa: They represent the “poor.”
Jon: How are they different from Divergents?
Melissa: Some are Divergent.
Gaby: I honestly don’t remember.
Allyson: They didn’t test into any group, while Divergent tested into all of them.
Jon: So we have to assume they have other character traits that aren’t the top 5? And divergents are exclusively one or more of the top 5?
Melissa: Yeah, you think that makes no sense, eh? WAIT FOR ALLEGIANT. And in the book, Tris is the only person who tested for THREE factions.
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Jon: One thing I do enjoy from this franchise is how the female lead it is. The films make them all mostly white females, but they are females, nonetheless.
Allyson: Yeah, every big leader, rebel, etc., was a woman, which I greatly appreciated. For the most part, they were the ones moving the pieces.
Jon: Even the Elder was a woman.
Melissa: Fun fact: The elder is Edith Prior. It’s told in Insurgent the book.
Jon: But the thing they all don’t have in common with Tris is that Tris never leads.
Gaby: I think because Tris isn’t a leader. That’s not who she is. Four is a leader. People follow him. It’s not part of her personality to be a leader. Only because she’s Divergent, people force her into the leadership role.
Jon: But Tris is supposed to be basically the pinnacle of humanity. Leading is kind of in the job description, isn’t it?
Gaby: Yeah, but she doesn’t want to.
Allyson: Yeah she never seemed like she wanted to be a hero.
Melissa: Nope, Jon. She’s all about “self-sacrifice.”
Jon: Isn’t that just one aspect of her? Like she’s also Dauntless.
Allyson: She wants to feel safe and avenge her parent’s death.
Melissa: Jon, GOOD POINT. Remember that for Allegiant.
Gaby: She’s set up to be a leader, but she’s not taking it up. She just wants to do her thing.
Jon: I have a feeling I’m not going to like Allegiant. I felt almost every faction pretty much lived up to their distinct characteristics. All except one: The one that was based on intelligence and rationality.
Gaby: Ugh. Allegiant makes me so mad.
Melissa: Gaby, ME TOO!! I want to get into it, but I don’t want to spoil!! LOL
Allyson: How on earth are they splitting the next book into two films?
Melissa: Ally, GOOD QUESTION.
Allyson: Obviously, it was a decision based off of money but man… it hardly worked for the newest Hunger Games, right?
Gaby: The whole concept of the factions makes no sense. I think it’s completely against humanity to have one personality trait.
Melissa. EXACTLY. But they were raised that way.
Allyson: It’s also such an obvious take on the sorting in Harry Potter. LOL
Jon: Unless you’re a robot.
Gaby: It’s like what you said. Not everyone in that faction is exactly how they bill themselves as a whole.
Allyson: But yeah, it’s ludicrous to think that anyone is ever only ONE thing.
Gaby: Now you would think that there would be a good argument for nature vs. nurture in the last book. But NOPE.
Melissa: I mean, Christina is Candor but she’s also kind and brave…so why isn’t she labeled divergent?
Allyson: Because the author got lazy. LOL
Jon: Also, how is that little girl 40% divergent?
Melissa: Jon, no idea. That’s a movie thing, not in the book.
Jon: I was going to say, how does it know what she is if she doesn’t even know who she is yet?
Melissa: I’m going to have fun seeing them explain the whole percentage B.S. in Allegiant.
Jon: It’s all self fulfilling prophecy bullshit.
Gaby: There’s no case for how environment and society influence us in this series. It’s all nature. And the very black and white explanation is infuriating.
Allyson: It’s a Psych 101 course where they give you a personality quiz but in movie format.
Melissa: The “explanation” is ambiguous. Or at least I don’t get it and still have questions….
Jon: I feel like Tris would not have embraced other aspects of her personality if she wasn’t told she had them.
Gaby: She probably wouldn’t have. Four on the other hand always aspired to be all of them.
Jon: He has the sexy tattoos to prove it.
Allyson: I wish Four had been given more to do in the film other than stand around looking cool, beating people up, and running after Tris.
Melissa: Well, he did have the ideas…
Jon: He was the only person moving the story forward.
Allyson: While it’s cool that he was the supporting player to Tris’s character, it seemed like his actually could have dug a little deeper into some more interesting character exploration bits.
Melissa: Ally, in the book, he has a deeper role.
Allyson: Yeah but that doesn’t make him a character.
Gaby: Allegiant is written in both of their perspectives. So since they’re splitting the book in two movies, they should focus on him more. They kind of have to in order for that ending to be impactful.
Jon: Honestly, none of them are real characters to me. They are all shallow simulations, lacking depth and originality.
Allyson: Shailene comes closest because she puts a lot into it; but yeah, they’re all fulfilling roles and that’s about it.
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Gaby: What did you guys think of Miles Teller?
Allyson: Miles Teller came close. I never need to see Ansel Elgort in another movie.
Jon: Miles was decent comedy relief.
Melissa: He was the best.
Allyson: I really liked Miles even though, again, he’s not much a character. We could have used more of him as well.
Melissa: And I am not a fan of Ansel.
Jon: Ansel is dead to me.
Gaby: Ansel is so overrated.
Melissa: Gaby—HE REALLY IS.
Jon: There was a moment, when he had a gun and was standing behind Jeanine. I was hoping he would do something heroic.
Allyson: Did you think he was going to kill her?
Jon: But he was a dud, like he has been for two films now.
Allyson: I got so hopeful for a moment.
Melissa: Nope. He’s a coward through and through.
Jon: I thought he had it in him to do it, especially after that train scene.
Allyson: He’s a wet blanket of a character, for sure.
Gaby: He’s really the opposite of his sister.
Melissa: UGH.
Allyson: His character like many of the other characters just didn’t seem to have any real motive for what they were doing. It was all storytelling contrivances to get one character from point A to point B.
Gaby: He seemed like he was being controlled by the SIM’s or whatever. Just a bad combination of the character and Ansel’s blah performance.
Jon: I thought he was supposed to be intelligent and rational, but no intelligent and rational person would side with the people who killed his parents.
Gaby: I think he’s just out for survival and doesn’t care who he betrays.
Melissa: He thought what Jeanine was doing was “right.”
Allyson: But we’re never told why. The movie is so much telling and not enough showing.
Melissa: Why he thinks that?
Gaby: He must be like 0% divergent. LOL
Melissa: He must believe that divergents were the problem, like Jeanine said. He betrayed his sister for no reason, after all.
Gaby: If we go by the explanation in Allegiant, he just doesn’t have the capacity to be brave, selfless, etc. I think he’s the only character that actually fits in the author’s explanation.
Melissa: What do you mean? She meant that there’s different ways to be brave and that the traits kind of interweave with each other.
Jon: Like standing by watching your sister get choked to death.
Allyson: I wanted someone to punch him at that point. “Aw Tris, I wanted to help.” Then why didn’t you, oh my god.
Jon: Me too, but then he made the very conscious decision to let his sister die.
Melissa: I kept waiting for her to explain Tris in the last one. That slo-mo sim sequence was cheesy by the way. It was too long.
Jon: Which one? When she is falling to the fictional ground?
Allyson: No, wait.
Jon: And everything is crumbling around her?
Allyson: The one where she breaks through the glass in the sim.
Melissa: Yes, Ally.
Allyson: And she’s lunging towards Kate Winslet. It had the entire theater in tears laughing because of how awkward it was.
Jon: The CGI Tris was pretty bad.
Melissa: It was so awkward.
Gaby: Yeah, CGI Tris was awful. Also, I adore Kate Winslet, but it depresses me how bad she is in this movie.
Melissa: I liked her more here than in the last movie.
Gaby: Her character just repeats the same thing over and over.
Allyson: I couldn’t take anything she said seriously. Her face never even changed. Like, I get that actors sometimes do films just for the paycheck you know, whatever. But try a little at least.
Gaby: Same. I couldn’t blame Naomi Watts at the end. LOL
Jon: I’m searching my notes to find something else to talk about, but that would mean it actually had some sort of depth I could acknowledge.
Melissa: Exactly. LOL
Gaby: I think we’ve hit that point. Final thoughts?
Melissa: So, I thought it was okay. Theo’s face is my favorite part, and not sure if I’ll be watching Allegiant.
Allyson: I went into the film never expecting to take any of it remotely seriously. I’m not going to recommend anyone to go and see the film, but it’s certainly not the worst film I’ve ever seen, and it will make for a fairly enjoyable viewing once it hits HBO. It’s a “meh” film with an overall goofiness that makes it mildly enjoyable.
Gaby: The movie leaves a lot to be desired, but it’s not a completely regrettable experience. Shailene is great in it and continues to prove her star power. Four is shelled out a little more, which is nice because he plays a (hopefully) bigger role in Allegiant. It’s definitely not as deep as it pretends to be, but once you let that go, it’s not bad, just okay.
Jon: As a person who has not read the books, now will probably never read the books, and as someone who is completely over YA literature with the same core stories being made into films, I’m going to pretend this film was a simulation. It was pretty to look at, and seeing some familiar stars was slightly enjoying, but its complete lack of substance and coherency makes me regret making it this far into what was suppose to be a trilogy. I guess I have two more torturous films to get through since I’ve made it this far.
Thanks for reading! The Divergent Series: Insurgent is now playing in theaters.
Click [NEXT] to read a bonus conversation from our discussion.
[tps_title]EXTRAS[/tps_title]
Melissa: LOL Jon. “It was all a simulation.” Mine is so shallow, but it’s true. Oh well.
Gaby: Theo James is gorgeous.
Jon: Basically in the end, they were all told they were guinea pigs, and they kind of celebrated that fact.
Melissa: Jon, YES! Gaby, HE’S SO YUMMY. I CAN’T.
Jon: But I guess the moral is that they celebrated that fact together, without factions.
Gaby: I hate that Theo will probably not have much of a career outside of this. LOL
Jon: There’s always porn?
Melissa: He’s making other films so hopefully…
Gaby: LMAO.
Ally: LOL
Melissa: Side note: I know what happens, but it didn’t leave me excited for what’s outside.
Jon: I feel like the story could have just ended there. Leave the rest of it open-ended. Do we really need the threat of more films?
Gaby: I was more annoyed that geographically it ended facing the wrong side of the wall.
Melissa: Gaby, I didn’t notice.
Jon: They weren’t supposed to be walking on Lake Michigan?
Gaby: No. Everything happens at O’Hare.
Jon: Damn, they are way off. With all that foot traffic, they’ll never make it there.
Gaby: Like the first quarter of the novel is them walking from downtown, down the Kennedy, towards the airport.
Jon: Question: Does this society have flying vehicles?
Gaby: Nope.
Allyson: Convenient.
Jon: But they have magical machines that tell you what faction you are, and weird simulation cables that know where to penetrate you.
Melissa: WAIT… you know what could have perhaps made it more exciting is mentioning—LIKE IN THE BOOK—that the people outside need help.
Gaby: Didn’t that lady say that they needed to head outside the wall to help people?
Melissa: Nope. She said to “Join mankind…. and have peace…”
Gaby: Oh, okay.
Jon: I really want them to get introduced to a world of cannibals or to meet up where Walking Dead is now.
Gaby: Prepare to be disappointed. But that would’ve been cool! And make sense.
Melissa: And she said divergents are vital to survive but apparently, to me, only Tris is vital since she’s the ONLY ONE who is 100.
Jon: Well, that’s not fair. They only really tested like a dozen people, and if Tris is 100%, then Four is 200%.
Melissa: Pft. PREPARE.
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