I have a thing for dystopian and/or post-apocalyptic movies. Even the duds I tend to generally like more than others might. Thus I was excited to see Divergent, a movie that takes place 100 years in the future after some major war has forced a society to build classes to keep its citizens under control. The movie is based on a young adult book, and unfortunately some elements clearly aimed at a younger audience made it into the film, dumbing down what I think could have been a stellar flick.
Overall I thought it was still good. A little predictable, sure, but a generally rewarding film. There were a few too many scenes and dialogue though that felt very campy or hokey, followed by scenes of extreme violence, almost as if the film’s makers couldn’t decide what demographic they were aiming for. The musical score was awful, with an almost teen top-40 kind of feel that severely detracted from the mood I wanted the film to create, a place that it never quite reached.
Divergent is just book one of a trilogy, and there seems to all ready be plans to make the following 2 in to films as well. I just hope they don’t try so hard to appeal to all age groups, and just make a solid movie. If they do, they could be a lot better.
Jons Movie Takes 