STACK #126 Apr 2016

CINEMA

REVIEWS

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The second chapter in Veronica Roth's Divergent Series significantly diverges from its Hunger Games -lite predecessor, making this a YA franchise worth following. INSURGENT RELEASED: March 19 DIRECTOR: Robert Schwentke CAST: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Kate Winslet RATING: M

I n the competitive arena of Young Adult adaptations, some series live to fight another day, while others die after a single installment. To succeed, they must possess the same non-conformist stance as their protagonists, which can be tricky given that popular YA fiction largely conforms to an established formula. Veronica Roth’s Divergent Series has been tough enough to survive for another chapter, and while 2014’s Divergent ostensibly resembled The Hunger Games , the trilogy significantly diverges from comparisons to the Suzanne Collins’ juggernaut with second film, Insurgent . The Divergent Series ’ post-apocalyptic future is located within a fenced-off Chicago, where society has been divided into five factions according to human virtues. But if you possess free will and independent thought – like Tris (Shailene Woodley) and Four (Theo James) – you’re deemed ‘Divergent’ and a threat to the status quo. With the factions on the brink of civil war at the end of Divergent , Insurgent picks up with Tris and Four on the run from power-mad Erudite leader Jeanine (Kate Winslet), who has vowed to eliminate the Divergents. The pair find allies in the Factionless, led by Four’s

mother (Naomi Watts), and there’s also the issue of a mysterious box containing a message from the society’s founders, which can only be opened by a pure Divergent, making Tris’s capture a priority. The middle film of a trilogy can often be the weakest, but Roth has bigger things in store in chapter three, so Insurgent delivers both a satisfying conclusion to the events of the first film and sets up the third, Allegiant , which is poised to take the story in a completely new direction (and of course will be divided into Part 1 & 2). Without the need for set-up and exposition, Insurgent is free to explore the nuances of its class system and characters, as well as advancing the narrative in new and unexpected directions through propulsive storytelling – which is what any good sequel should do. Shailene Woodley is no Jennifer Lawrence but she invests Tris with guts and a steely determination that belies her wallflower look, and the scenes in which she plunges into a series of surreal VR simulations to unlock the secret of the box are among the film’s visual highlights. So if you're hungry for another quality YA film franchise, make sure it’s The Divergent Serie s. Scott Hocking

APRIL 2015 JB Hi-Fi www.jbhifi.com.au

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