Teen fiction novels have been a major focus for film creators within the past eight years.
The teen flick phenomena began in 2008 with the ever popular and sparkly “Twilight Saga,” based on the book series by Stephenie Meyer. Then it progressed to the still continuing and intense “Hunger Games” films, based on the trilogy written by Suzanne Collins.
The newest teen fiction saga, “Divergent,” is second in box offices with over 26 million dollars in ticket sales on www.movietickets.com. This film is based on a trilogy written by Veronica Roth.
The film takes place in a futuristic utopian society where a wall has been built around the crumbling city of Chicago to protect the citizens from the unknown.
The leaders of this community have created a system of five factions, or groups. Each individual is divided in the factions by their own “choice” as to where they would fit in best and serve the community fully.
As with any “flawless” utopian system, there is moral corruption within the execution of keeping the peace. The heroine Tris, played by Shailene Woodley, uncovers the truth and stands up to fight the system and ultimately survives the destruction of all that she has known.
Woodley has come a long way from her role in the 2008 disastrous series, “Secret Life of the American Teenager.” In “Divergent” she still has the sense of being a teenager, but it is apparent that she has grown and matured.
While Woodley’s acting has improved, she still has a lot of work to do. She overplayed the more emotionally dramatic roles, which shows she is still struggling to grasp the concept of portraying realistic characters.
Tris’ love interest, Four, is played by Theo James. James is a stereotypical male lead. He is muscular, dominant and sensitive. His character has a complicated past and has many fears of what is to come, but he allows himself to break away and fall in love.
James’ portrayal of Four feels natural, but the audience almost loses this with overzealous corny lines within the script. This includes the always generic “I have never trusted someone before.”
The male lead is assigned the sweetest and most heart wrenching lines in the script, but the most important lines need to be rewritten.
Corny is the buzzword of all teen movies, but this film had the opportunity to get past that and be a good serious film; however, the creators of this film didn’t take that to heart. Overall, the movie is decent and achieves the goal of entertainment. The content is interesting and the characters are relatable. Is this film worth the 10 dollar ticket? It is if you are a fan of the book or enjoy teen fiction films.
The Alabamian gives this film a 6/10.
