Divergent’s First Clip Is Completely Laughable
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“What’s your tattoo?” Summit Entertainment and Lionsgate’s newest franchise is the film adaptation of Divergent. Based on the widely popular young adult book series from author Veronica Roth, Divergent is the newly merged movie studio’s next shot at dominating the box office after The Hunger Games and the Twilight Saga. While Divergent is an unproven movie property, Lionsgate is doing everything they can so people will show up to their local movie theater this March to watch the film.
To keep things rolling, they released the first clip from Divergent. Why do I have a feeling that Divergent will be closer to The Host and Twilight than to The Hunger Games? The clip above is completely laughable! The tattoo featured on Four’s (Theo James) back is ridiculous and looks absolutely fake. The chemistry between Theo James and Shailene Woodley is shallow, and promises to be just as vapid on the big screen. The tone of the clip also feels like the love triangle is at the front and center of the film, rather than its central conflict. I’m all for a good love triangle, but just based on the clip, this one just looks painful.
I remain completely unsold on Divergent. From the trailers, it looks like the film’s dialogue will be expository, rather than organic. I hate movies that tell you every bit of the story rather than showing you. I do find Divergent‘s story interesting, the idea that societal order is hinged upon maintaining strictly factions in a post-apocalyptic world, so maybe there’s more to Divergent than what we’ve seen so far. But overall, Divergent just seems too convoluted.
Lionsgate recently announced the release dates of Divergent‘s sequels: Insurgent, which opens on March 20, 2015, and Allegiant, which will hit theaters everywhere on March 18, 2016. If Divergent is a hit, it would serve as lighter fare than Lionsgate’s big-ticket meal, The Hunger Games. It was also revealed that Divergent‘s director, Neil Burger (Limitless), will not return for its sequels. While Burger’s motives are unclear, it’s believed that Insurgent and Allegient‘s shooting schedules may have conflicted with the director’s schedule. With such an aggressive release schedule, Divergent‘s sequel would have to go into production this spring, just as the first installment is opening in theaters.
Divergent is set in a post-apocalyptic Chicago, where people are separated into five distinct factions: Amity, Abnegation, Candor, Dauntless, and Erudite. Its citizens and residents are divided based on dominant personality traits, but some are unique and cannot be classified. These people are called “Divergent” and have no place in society. The story follows Beatrice “Tris” Prior, who is discovered to be Divergent and must figure out how to stay alive.
Evan Daugherty (Snow White and the Huntsman) and Vanessa Taylor (Hope Springs) co-wrote the screenplay. The film stars Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Kate Winslet, Ansel Elgort, Ray Stevenson, Zoë Kravitz, Maggie Q, Jai Courtney, Tony Goldwyn, Ashley Judd, and Mekhi Phifer.
Divergent will hit theaters everywhere on March 21, 2014, in IMAX.
