In this image released by Lionsgate, Rosa Salazar, foreground from left, Emjay Anthony and Suki Waterhouse appear in a scene from “The Divergent Series: Insurgent.” (AP Photo/Lionsgate, Andrew Cooper)
Given that conformity is the scourge of the “Divergent” series and much of its young-adult ilk, the films, including the new “Insurgent,” could have done more to stray from well-worn YA paths.
Instead of throbbing with a teenage spirit of rebellion
—youthful wildness, humor or sex—the two “Divergent” films seem content to eke out a rigid fable in the usual futuristic environs.
The answer, here, to the question of what are you rebelling against isn’t, “Whaddya got?” but the slightly less visceral, “An elaborate, metaphorical dystopian system of militaristic control.”
But even faint whiffs of teen insurrection carry enough potency to drive feverish young audiences. Why? Much of it has to do with the stars.
Star-making machine
Say what you will, YA movies have been an efficient star-making machine that’s produced Jennifer Lawrence, Kristen Stewart and Shailene Woodley—
good actresses all, who lead their respective films over their male counterparts.
The YA men aren’t as fine a bunch but “Insurgent” has the hunky Theo James and the excellent Miles Teller. Predictably providing it with comedy, Teller looks as if he didn’t get the note that all must be sullen and serious.
Based on Veronica Roth’s best-selling novels, the “Divergent” films are set in a walled, post-apocalyptic Chicago, where survivors are ritualistically sorted into five factions. Every 16-year-old is tested for which faction suits them, and then must choose one.
Tris (Woodley) chose Dauntless, known for bravery and, it seems, proclivity for train-hopping. But her test revealed her to be “divergent,” with no dominant characteristic but a plethora—
which makes her uncontrollable. In “Divergent,” Tris embraced her fate, found love in Dauntless leader Four (James, who has a natural chemistry with Woodley).
Along with an underground revolutionary leader played by an underused Naomi Watts, Tris and Four organize a revolt against city lord Janine (Kate Winslet) from making zombies out of the citizens.
Many YA adaptation series make the first film cheaply and, once its popularity is proven, boost the production value in sequels. That’s the case with the 3-D “Insurgent.” So this is a bigger, glossier, better-made action film with less embarrassing fight choreography. But any appeal still depends entirely on the talent of its cast.
The final “Divergent” book will be split into two movies, a future that is indeed a little dystopian. Much brighter are the blossoming careers of Woodley and Teller, who were best together in “The Spectacular Now.” Movies, thankfully, come in factions, too.