Book to Movie. Rad or Bad? Divergent Edition. Part 2.

On March 22nd I had the privilege of watching the Divergent movie with Lisa @Turning Pages. Here is my thoughts on the movie.

Divergent, based of the successful novel by Veronica Roth, stars Shailene Woodley as Tris and Theo James as Four. This story takes place in a post-apocalyptic Chicago where society is split into five different factions who all value a different human trait. Erudite values knowledge, Candor values honesty, Amity values peace, Dauntless values bravery, and Abnegation values selflessness. The members of society get to choose which faction they will live in after they take an aptitude test at the age of 16. Abnegation born Beatrice Prior (Woodley) finds out that she is Divergent during her aptitude test, meaning she belongs to more than one faction. Divergence can get you killed. Beatrice must then decide where she belongs and attempt too survive.

The movie opens with Woodley as Beatrice giving an overview of the society. This narration was definitely needed for those who have not read the book. It also introduced the world to the viewers. They got to see the different factions at work and see the visualization. Off to a great start.

I definitely believe that the crew of Divergent got the right feel for the movie. The sets look exactly as I imagined and the costumes were even better than I expected. Well other than Beatrice wearing a lot of mascara while she was in Abnegation. But oh well, not important.
.

 

Plot

Butter Knife: Okay seriously, I am so upset about the butter knife you have no idea. That was one of the things that showed how far some people are willing to go to win and I didn't feel like we got a lot of that in the movie. It was just like everyone was trying to survive but no one was trying to prove that they were better than the others. So when Tris got really good really fast it came out of nowhere when Peter attacks her. Obviously other people like the the butter knife plot too, I mean check these out...

Veronica Roth had a cameo! Did you spot her? I did :)

 

 Four/Tris: Aspects of Four and Tris's relationship was missing. I felt that it all came out of nowhere. There was obviously that attraction, but it didn't feel like they flirted very much. It was just like oh look a guy, hes cute, oh now I'm going to make out with him, and now I love him. I just felt like the dance they had in the book was not there. The relationship came very fast and was almost shallow. 

 

On the flip side, everything that we did see on screen was amazing! Theo James and Shailene Woodley have such amazing chemistry. Lisa would mumble "I feel so awkward watching this". That's how you know they have good chemistry! And honestly it was a little awkward to watch at times, which kind of made it funny in a way. It was great. Honestly, amazing. 

Tris' tattoos:

 

The reason for Tris getting her tattoos was not explained in the movie. She just all the sudden picks up a pattern and has Tori tattoo it onto her. I saw online that some who did not read the book thought that the three birds represented the three factions that she has an aptitude for. I actually like that the movie has an alternate explanation. 

 

 

 

 

Fear Landscape:  This was one of the only things that I had a problem with. That, and the ending (I'll get to that in a minute.) But the fear landscape was so incredibly different from the book. She's supposed to "act like a Dauntless not a Divergent". Like I understand why they made that change it was just weird to me. That and some of the fears and the way she solved them weren't even the same. It drove me nuts. 

Also I would like to talk about the "intimacy" fear. Some people have been saying that that scene was too graphic or whatever. I would like to say right now that they are completely spewing bullshit. Absolutely nothing happened. I don't even think clothing was taken off. What did happen is Four attempting to force himself of Tris (all during a fear landscape so it was all completely fake) and then Tris thoroughly kicked his ass. It was more of a moment of empowerment that it was of anything else.

Zip-line: BETTER THAN I EVER THOUGHT IT COULD BE. SO COOL. OH MY GOSH. THAT'S ALL I'M GOING TO SAY.

The ending: SPOILER. I didn't like the ending. Seriously. Tris isn't supposed to tell Four that she loves him yet! She is supposed to go through all of that discovery during Insurgent. That was the main moment that annoyed the crap out of me. The rest of the ending was great. The fighting, the pissing off Jeanine, the deaths, were all done great until THEY EFFING MADE TRIS TELL FOUR THAT SHE LOVES HIM. He is supposed tell her first and she is supposed to grapple with it. Come on guys. Get it right. 

Conclusion: 

I really did enjoy this movie. I thought it was very well done. Yes, some parts were missing and some were changed but overall the integrity of the book remained intact. I loved it and probably will see it again. I cant wait for Insurgent to come out! Film fast everyone!

-Shawnee Smith