This is not The Hunger Games. Yes, the dystopian future where people are separated into groups so they are easier to control and the actual finances and way people get clothes, food, etc is never explained because it just couldn't work is very similar to the way the world in the Hunger Games was created. And yes, when they told the heroin (who looks like she could be Jennifer Lawrence's sister) that she could pick her own name, I almost expected her to say, "Catniss." But these are different movies.
The idea in this world is that something terrible happened, and the remaining cool people have built a wall around a city and tried to rebuild society by separating everyone into five groups: 1) Abnegation: the selfless people who deny themselves everything but the bare minimum where our main characters mostly come from. 2) Amity: the peaceful people we basically never see in this movie. 3) Candor: the honest people who are presumably meeting with Amity. 4) Dauntless: the brave, wild, young, and strong protectors of the city. Who are they protecting it from? Unclear. What do they actually do to contribute to society? Also unclear. 5) Erudite: the jerks who are supposed to be more intelligent than everyone else, even though none of them come off as particularly smart.
Shailene Woodley plays the heroine who actually picks the name "Tris" after the somewhat complicated process of explaining the five groups and what their only personality traits are. Tris chooses Dauntless (the protectors) after being told that she, unlike most people who go through the standard test when they are 18, is a "divergent." She's never heard the term before, so presumably few people know it, but it means that she defies standard categorization. As an actress, she is wooden and completely replaceable.
Theo James plays the love interest and mentor, Four. Four is - shockingly - another one of these incredibly rare divergents. He is hunky and tattooed and essentially also replaceable. What I liked about The Hunger Games was that it was not like Twilight while it catered to essentially the same crowd. They managed to introduce characters that had some depth and interest. This movie is more like Twilight in its attempt to create a template where teenage girls could simply replace the main character with themselves to live out their dreams.
Other notable actors are Ashley Judd as Catniss' mother (who is also divergent) and Kate Winslet as the evil woman who the audience never ever gets the slightest hint that she will ever be anything but the bad guy. In fact, the very first time she appeared on screen, I yelled, "Kill her! Shoot her in the head!" Clearly, that would have shortened the movie pretty considerably, but no one in these movies ever does what I say they sould do... aside from the lead in You're Next, who did a great job.
Acting was moderate
Directing was weak
Story was very weak
Effects were okay
Dialogue was pretty terrible
1.5/5
The idea in this world is that something terrible happened, and the remaining cool people have built a wall around a city and tried to rebuild society by separating everyone into five groups: 1) Abnegation: the selfless people who deny themselves everything but the bare minimum where our main characters mostly come from. 2) Amity: the peaceful people we basically never see in this movie. 3) Candor: the honest people who are presumably meeting with Amity. 4) Dauntless: the brave, wild, young, and strong protectors of the city. Who are they protecting it from? Unclear. What do they actually do to contribute to society? Also unclear. 5) Erudite: the jerks who are supposed to be more intelligent than everyone else, even though none of them come off as particularly smart.
Shailene Woodley plays the heroine who actually picks the name "Tris" after the somewhat complicated process of explaining the five groups and what their only personality traits are. Tris chooses Dauntless (the protectors) after being told that she, unlike most people who go through the standard test when they are 18, is a "divergent." She's never heard the term before, so presumably few people know it, but it means that she defies standard categorization. As an actress, she is wooden and completely replaceable.
Theo James plays the love interest and mentor, Four. Four is - shockingly - another one of these incredibly rare divergents. He is hunky and tattooed and essentially also replaceable. What I liked about The Hunger Games was that it was not like Twilight while it catered to essentially the same crowd. They managed to introduce characters that had some depth and interest. This movie is more like Twilight in its attempt to create a template where teenage girls could simply replace the main character with themselves to live out their dreams.
Other notable actors are Ashley Judd as Catniss' mother (who is also divergent) and Kate Winslet as the evil woman who the audience never ever gets the slightest hint that she will ever be anything but the bad guy. In fact, the very first time she appeared on screen, I yelled, "Kill her! Shoot her in the head!" Clearly, that would have shortened the movie pretty considerably, but no one in these movies ever does what I say they sould do... aside from the lead in You're Next, who did a great job.
Acting was moderate
Directing was weak
Story was very weak
Effects were okay
Dialogue was pretty terrible
1.5/5