Divergent (2014)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2014
	Director: Neil Burger (The Illusionist)
	Actors: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Kate Winslet (Titanic, Contagion), Ashley Judd (A Time to Kill, Olympus had Fallen), Jai Courtney (Die Hard 5: A Good Day to Die Hard, Terminator Genysis)
	Country: USA
	Genre: SF
	Conditions of visioning: 14.10.2015, In-flight Entertainment system, 8" screen
Synopsis: 100 years after a Global War, the city of Chicago is isolated and in peace thanks to an organization in five classes. For Tris (Woodley), the day of choosing her future class is determining.
Review: Surfing on the wave of SF/Fantasy franchises for young adults, Divergent is actually not as bad as others like The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones. It is closer to a Hunger Games, very close to it actually with its female heroin facing a new life, and its divided society. Romance is present as well but fortunately not too pronounced. It is interesting that there are in fact no special powers involved in this movie, just normal humans classified according to their genes or characters (A Brave New World is not far). It is not unpleasant to follow the various challenges the heroin has to overcome (again, structured like The Hunger Games or like any video game), but I had too much the feeling that the movie will stop unfinished (as it does), leaving the door open for a money-making franchise continuing with Insurgent (2015), Allegient (2016) and Ascendant (2017). I find the lead actress Shailene Woodley even less charismatic than Jennifer Lawrence, the sexy Theo James is here only for his looks, and apart from a good Kate Winslet, the best actor may be Jai Courtney, for me much better casted here than as son of John McClane in Die Hard 5: A Good Day to Die Hard or Kyle Reese in Terminator Genysis.
Rating: 4 /10