Insurgent

Part two of three in the Divergent series. The review for the first film 'Divergent' was less than a month ago so it should be fresh in our memories but in case it isn't I'll just bring you up to speed. Tris (Jailene Woodley) and Four (Theo James) attacked Jeanine (Kate Winslet) to prevent her from making all the Dauntless soldiers attack the Abnegation faction. Now they are factionless and wanted for attacking Jeanine. Taking shelter in a few other factions, when they are chased out of Amity by Eric (Jai Courtney) and a lot of other top Dauntless soldiers, they end up in Candice and face a Candice trial. Four is cleared from any guilt but Tris cannot be cleared for her part in the event as she was never under the same implant that Four was.

Caleb, who has no staminer, no spine, no courage or no real use in this film decides that he can't keep up with Tris and Four so he goes back to Eredite and works with Jeanine. His betrayal is just stupid and irritating. Even Peter (Miles Teller) has more of a role to play in this film and is more likeable than Caleb and considering that Miles Teller only ever plays the slightly arrogant character that is saying a lot. Tris eventually hands herself in when it becomes clear that Jeanine has implanted lots of people and is making them kill themselves every day until Tris comes forward. The focus of this film is on a box that Tris' mother was keeping from Jeanine. This box is never mentioned in the first film so it must be something that features in the book. Only a divergent can complete all the levels in the simulation and open the message of the box. Typically, Tris is the only one who can open the box. When she does, the message isn't what Jeanine was after and she intends to kill Tris and Four, bury the bodies and hide the message but she is overthrown by the Factionless, led by Four's mother and the remaining Dauntless. Evelyn (Four's mother) shoots Jeanine and the message is broadcasted. This would have been the ideal place to stop making films.

The star award still goes to Winslet because her character gets a lot more development and she gets to show stronger distress in this film and also a much more cruel-hearted nature that was slightly lacking in the first film. Peter redeems himself a little by making Tris look dead so that she wouldn't unlock the message in the box but Tris insists upon completing the box tasks before escaping with Four and so Peter's effort was wasted. Caleb does nothing to redeem himself and is just an accessory to murder. Chicago should get better after this revolution but they made a third film so it is safe to assume that it doesn't. Eric dies and Jai Courtney continues his stunning role as one of the most hated characters in this series but spares us from having to suffer him and Peter in the final film (probably so that he could focus on Terminator Genisys).

Shailene Woodley is not convincing as Tris at all. Not enough emotion or determination. If the character in the book is pathetic and totally dependent on Four then fine, she is doing a good job but then the character is rubbish and if she isn't then Woodley is just doing a bad job at playing the part. Four does all the work and she just stands there and attempts to look pretty. Having changed so much from the books to ensure that the movie would stand alone they had the license to develop the character of Tris and I can't believe that she is so emotionless and rubbish because of the changes. It is okay to have a woman who can think for themselves, fight and show emotion but she doesn't really show any of those qualities. Whatever she had in the first film she lost. The first film was the best and this was still good but they didn't need to make it, they could have stopped at the end of the first film and they certainly should have stopped after this film. It had a nice ending to it and didn't need to be continued.