The Divergent Movie

I saw the Divergent movie last night. I'd compare it to the book, but for some reason the book is a bit of a blur for me, so here goes...

It was a decent movie, which is what you can expect from a decent book. Nothing spectacular, but neither was the book. Very entertaining for the moment I was watching it, but probably not going to stay in my mind for very long. Considering the book was the same way, I'd say the movie lived up to the book excellently. You may remember my review on Divergent a bunch of months ago - I mentioned that the book fell into the Good category, but not quite Excellent, which is reserved for books like Les Miserables and LOTR.

I thought again about this whole Faction business. It's a bit illogical to think that anyone would be anything BUT Divergent, isn't it? Shouldn't the non-Divergents be the rare ones? I don't think that there are many people who are well enough defined as one Faction. I know I'd probably be Divergent: a combo of Abnegation and Erudite, and maybe a tad bit Amity. My sister would probably be Erudite and Dauntless. My mom would be Abnegation, Candor, and Amity. NO ONE is perfectly defined. Everyone seems to think that this Faction thing is a perfect system - it's not, it's terribly flawed, and not just because Erudite went bad.

I suppose it makes sense that Erudite would be the ones to go bad - knowledge is power, and a thirst for knowledge could lead to a thirst for power, in certain individuals. And Dauntless going bad also makes sense - the concept of bravery could be convoluted to meaning taking mindless risks and harming yourself or others just because you don't want to be seen as "cowardly." I feel that this twisting of the idea of being brave isn't focused on enough in the movie. It needs to be emphasized - Four stands up for the IDEAL of an honorable, chivalrous, truly brave Dauntless faction; and Eric, his rival, is the personification of the twisted concept of bravery, which isn't true bravery at all, just bullying, which is a form of cowardice. This is an IMPORTANT MESSAGE. You don't have to be careless to be brave.

One thing I LOVED about the movie (which I'm sure the tween girls sitting a few rows down from us didn't) was that they underplayed the romance between Four and Tris. One kiss (very passionate, mind you) was all. And a lot of comfort-hugging. But comfort-hugging just comes with post-apocalyptic battles.
In the book, it seemed like Four and Tris kissed to eliminate their troubles - oh, I'm confused, and worried, and scared for my life? Let's kiss passionately on your bed. That'll make us feel better. But here, their relationship seemed secondary to more urgent matters... like survival and all that.

Oh, and talking about those tween girls a few rows down - they literally screamed and clapped when Tris and Four kissed. Like "WOO WOO WOO" and all that. Gosh. One of them was also curled up sobbing near the end when everyone was dying - which I forgive her for, because I also shed a few tears... that's just what emotional deaths in movies do to me, especially if other characters on screen are crying as well.

I AM looking forward to Insurgent, though that book is slightly even more of a blur for me than this one was (seriously, I can barely remember what happened. I think it needs a reread). I also have Allegiant on hold at the library, but I'm somewhere around number 12 on the hold list, so that might not happen for a while.

~Sophia

Did you see Divergent? What did you think? If not - are you going to go see it?