Most viewed post of March 2014!

Divergent (Lionsgate/Summit)

Running Time – 2hrs, 19min

Genre – Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

Director – Neil Burger (Limitless 2011)

Writer(s):

Screenplay –

Evan Daugherty (Snow White and the Huntsman 2012)

Vanessa Taylor (Game of Thrones 2011)

Novel –

Veronica Roth (the Divergent Trilogy)

Critics Review Ratings: Metascore: 49/100. Rotten Tomatoes: 40%

Box Office: www.boxofficemojo.com (as of 3/23/14)

Domestic: $56,000,000

Foreign: -No Foreign Release-

“The Strength of Burger’s movie is the fact that a non-reader of Roth’s work can enjoy divergent and not be confused by any aspect of the storyline.” – Bill Zwecker, Chicago Sun-Times

“Divergent is less action-orientated than “The Hunger Games” but no less compelling.” – James Berardinelli, ReelViews

4 Stars out of 5: Worth Watching

“Divergent is a thrilling YA powerhouse, packing tons of suspense and action while not losing pace showing it off.” – Joel Freecheck, The BHS Blueprint

YA newcomer “Divergent” is a pleasant surprise. For someone who reads every review on a movie before watching it, I thought I was going to be wasting my time when I arrived the day after it was released. Instead, I found myself engrossed in the world that is so ingeniously adapted from one of my favorite novels. The director, Neil Burger has proved his skill with “The Illusionist” in 2006 and continues to excite in this movie. The main lead,  Shailene Woodley brings the character Tris to life with her amazing on-screen performance. Like “The Hunger Games” Tris in the book Divergent has the same strong female power as Katniss, and Woodley embodies her in the film. Other cast members such as Theo James and Kate Winslet put on a good show even with a few stony acts throughout the movie.

The story, sometimes rushed through the chapters of the book, overall satisfied me. I felt it was a great adaption from the novel. Some chapters were left out, but in my mind did not need to be seen onscreen. The climax of the film was the best and cemented my view on the movie itself. While the movie was long, it never lost my full attention for long. Some scenes, like the beginning seemed very fast, which the start in some ways is the most important part of a movie, because it’s supposed to capture your attention and keep you involved. It’s not like the first twenty minutes were boring, but at least in my mind still needed some polishing. The amount of action in the film does make up for most of Divergent’s flaws, which I am grateful for, since I really wanted this film to be good before seeing it, despite the critics complaints.

I feel the main reason why “Divergent” was slammed by critics was because they compared it too closely with “The Hunger Games” which the two are in many ways different. I felt the need to give it a good review not because I felt bad for it, but because it really was a good movie. So if you find yourself wanting to see a movie this week or the next but don’t know what to see, go to Divergent, you may be surprised. Thanks for Reading, Joel Freecheck.