Shailene Woodley and Theo James star in the “Divergent” sequel, “Insurgent.” The science fiction film premiered March 20. Courtesy of Amazon
“Insurgent,” the second movie installment based on the best-selling dystopian series “Divergent” by Veronica Roth, hit theaters March 20. The early-Thursday-night showing raked in $12.4 million, and this number is rising rapidly.
The film begins five days after “Divergent,” the first movie, comes to an end. The world has been turned upside-down as Divergents, people who don’t fit into one faction, are being hunted down, killed or tested.
Tris, played by Shailene Woodley, and Four, played by Theo James, are now fugitives after their battle inside Erudite’s main headquarters. Flee- ing to find brief refuge, they find themselves in the faction of Amity — the faction that most values peace and harmony.
After losing her parents and having to kill her friend to survive, Tris suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. Waking up with gory night- mares, she does her best to be brave. Four does his best to love, help and protect her even though Tris is quiet about what is troubling her.
Jeanine Matthews, played by Kate Winslet, is the council leader for the faction Erudite, which values knowledge above all else.
She wants to preserve the factions and believes the only way to do so is to destroy the Divergents, but not before she tests them to find what she wants. She is looking for the one Divergent who is not like the rest, and she will stop at nothing until she finds him or her.
Although the movie does not stay completely true to the book, Veronica Roth, author of the series, expressed in her personal blog that she hopes people will appreciate the changes they made to ensure the story progression is told correctly.
She said she believes many of the changes will streamline the story to make it more fitting for the big screen.
“Insurgent” explores conflicts for both groups and individuals. The film provides a fast-paced action movie for all to enjoy.
The film uses extensive special effects and computer animation, where one theme shown is shattering glass. This foreshadowing analogy shows Tris’s old reality being destroyed and shattered into pieces. She will never be able to put them together again. Instead, she must learn to walk on the broken glass.
Audiences will see intense fight scenes where Four attacks and wins, and Tris will learn the most important person to forgive is herself. The audiences will also see comedic relief and romance mixed in with all of the action, making it a well-rounded movie.
