Weekly Review -- Something different about you...

Divergent (2014) -- The market for young adult novel adaptations appears to be far from slowing down. With the success of The Fault in Our Stars and The Maze Runner, and with The Hunger Games: Mockingjay coming up, these novels have been taking cinema by storm. The exciting adaptation of Veronica Roth's "Divergent" is yet another example that proves it.

In a futuristic Chicago, people are divided into factions based on personality traits, such as Abnegation the selfless and Erudite the intelligent. Beatrice Prior (Shailene Woodley) had been born into Abnegation, but has always been fascinated by Dauntless, the fearless city protectors whose day to day activities can be summed up as a daredevil's dream. Everyone is able to choose a faction on their 16th birthday, based on an aptitude test that shows their best option, and can choose to leave or stay in their birth faction. When Beatrice takes the test, though, she finds out that she is Divergent, a trait signifying that her mind does not fit into a single category and one perceived as a threat to the system. Hiding the results, Beatrice decides to join Dauntless and soon falls for one of her instructors, Four (Theo James), but then discovers signs of a conspiracy brewing...

At first glance, the general plotline of Divergent is similar to so many young adult novels populating our pop culture consciousness these days -- a female protagonist going up against a dystopia. At the same time, however, the fun part is that Roth's story is universal. Tris represents everyone searching for themselves and everyone searching for a way to be free of social conventions. Having the endlessly appealing Woodley in the role does not hurt the cause and neither does having identity as leverage. It is not only the intended demographic that can identify with these themes, it is every human being under the sun. 

As far as the other cast members go, James is stoic and mysterious as Four, while Ashley Judd and Tony Goldwyn are excellent as Tris's parents. Kate Winslet is a revelation as the villain of the piece, Erudite faction's calculated leader Jeanine Matthews. She taps into the ruthless politician's coldness, but manages to hint that there is something else going on behind the pragmatic exterior. Her exchanges with Woodley are the definition of antagonism and I look forward to seeing her in more villain roles.

The one plot hole that comes to mind is the changing of the factions. If someone switches factions and is successful in both, does it not automatically mean that they are divergent? They cannot exactly turn off the attributes of the one that they had been born into. Still, this would be a minor gripe that does not have anything to do with the significance and entertainment value of the story.

One of the most thrilling cinematic fantasies in recent years, Divergent keeps you on your toes and makes you think by mixing human issues with terrific action sequences and plot twists. Sure, the story is not groundbreaking, but it offers up a host of intriguing questions and a strong heroine, which is more than can be said for many other films being released. We are more than ready for the sequel. Bring on Insurgent, please.

9/10