The Divergent Series: Allegiant
This is the first film based upon Veronica Roth’s Divergent series that I’ve gotten to in theatres- the first two films, I had to catch up with at home. Up to this point, it’s been a victim of my dwindling time to see theatrical releases, but the fact of the matter is, it hasn’t been a franchise I’ve been keen to keep up with, either. The first film was good, but it felt like it only existed to ride on the coattails of Lionsgate’s other Young Adult action franchise, “The Hunger Games,” rather than something that was worth watching on it’s own merits. Last year’s entry, “Insurgent,” felt even more like that, and now with “Allegiant,” the reasons to continue with this series feel solely out of a sense of obligation to bring all of Roth’s series to the screen, because the story itself can no longer pretend to be anything other than a wannabe “Hunger Games 2.0.” The only element of the franchise that transcends that sense of derivative-ness is Shailene Woodley as the lead character, Tris, but in film three, even she seems like she’s ready to move on to another part of her career.
The world Roth has created is mildly compelling, but when I try to explain it, I’m sure it would feel to any reader who didn’t know anything about it, that “Oh, I remember that from __________.” In a dystopian future ravaged by war (To everyone- Is there any way we can rid ourselves of this plot device? We’ll be there soon enough if Donald Trump has anything to say about it.), survivors in the city of Chicago have been split into five factions, each one with an emphasis on a particular trait- Abnegation (selflessness), Amity (farmers, who work for everyone), Candor (honesty), Erudite (intellectual) and Dauntless (fearlessness and protection). When a person is 16, there is a test and ceremony where they choose which faction they fit in best; the factions are designed to maintain a balance in the world. Every once in a while, though, someone tests as having an aptitude in all five areas- these are known as Divergents, and when that happens, they are ostracized in the society. Tris, the daughter of two respected Abnegations, is one such person, but she goes to Dauntless for fear of being found out. She eventually is, and well, things devolve into action and science fiction cliches from there. Like I said, this is a mildly compelling premise, but too often on-screen, the writers and directors of the franchise have opted for cliches over complex storytelling (emotionally or narratively), but that might point to the obviousness in Roth’s original books, as well.
As “Allegiant” opens, Tris and a band of peers have discovered hints of the world outside of Chicago, and the wall that keeps them from the truth. The society they were a part of has collapsed with the death of Jeanine (Kate Winslet), who ruled with a ruthless streak, and now Evelyn (Naomi Watts), whose son Four (Theo James) has been an ally and lover of Tris’s since their time in Dauntless, is working to rebuild trust by holding trials for the people who helped Jeanine. For someone like Johanna (Octavia Spencer), who respected the balance their society used to have, Evelyn is only becoming another Jeanine, and her righteous anger is clouding any sense of true justice. Meanwhile, Tris has rejected wanting to be a leader in this new society, and is wanting to go beyond the wall to see what of humanity remains. With Four, her brother Caleb (Ansel Elgort), and friends Christina (Zoë Kravitz), Tori (Maggie Q) and Peter (Miles Teller), they manage to escape, and find themselves in a barren wasteland that was destroyed by war. They are eventually found by a group of soldiers working for the Bureau of Genetic Welfare, a collective who controlled Chicago as a way of studying humanity and their inherent flaws, and ridding them of those flaws. The flawed are called “damaged,” while what we have come to call Divergents are “pure.” As the leader of the Bureau, David (Jeff Daniels), tells Tris, she is “pure.” The only one, in fact, and hopefully, he’ll be able to use her to “cure” the “damaged,” and prove to his bosses that the project was not in vein. Of course, with Chicago ready to tear itself apart, there may have to be extreme measures to go to. Did I mention the Bureau is remarkably sophisticated technically, and it’s housed in Chicago’s O’Hara airport?
Even writing those last couple of paragraphs, it’s hard not to see the “which movie is that from?” of pretty much everything we’ve seen. Evelyn’s righteous trials recall Gotham’s chaos under Bane in “The Dark Knight Rises.” The technology of the Bureau recalls “Oblivion.” The wasteland brings to mind “The Matrix,” which was also shot in Chicago, with a little bit of “Maze Runner” and “Mad Max” thrown in. The dynamics between the main characters, and the original society of the first two films, couldn’t bring to mind “Hunger Games” more unless the characters were named Katniss, Peeta, President Snow and President Coin. This would all be easy to overlook if the script by Noah Oppenheim, Adam Cooper and Bill Collage had anything remotely compelling about it on an emotional level, but even the complex feelings between characters, whether it’s Tris and Four, Tris and Caleb (who was set to stand trial in Evelyn’s courts) or Four and Evelyn, feel like routine beats in a script rather than anything that engages us the way “Hunger Games” did. It’s hardly the cast’s fault- Woodley remains a fine anchor for the series, and James, Watts, Spencer, Teller and Daniels all have the talent to make their roles interesting; they’re just stranded by a narrative that doesn’t allow them the chance to break loose and make the characters work beyond the surface. To that end, one must blame director Robert Schwentke (who also directed “Insurgent”), who isn’t adept at world-building, and doesn’t have a strong feel for who these characters should be. Summit/Lionsgate likes him because of the work he did on their 2010 hit, “RED,” and rightfully so (that’s one of the best films Summit’s logo has been on), but he just doesn’t have the dynamic visual abilities to turn a film like this into something palpable. I’d be curious to go back and watch “Insurgent” on the big screen, because one of the most glaring issues I had with “Allegiant” was that it looked low-budget from a visual standpoint. Rather than looking like what we’ve become accustomed to a franchise “tentpole” film looks like (spared no expense, with invisible effects), it feels like the studio is trying to making this series on the cheap, and not only is the camerawork by Florian Ballhaus pretty pedestrian, but the visual effects shots are noticeable. Yes, obviously the tech in the film doesn’t exist in the real world, but I shouldn’t be able to notice the seams if a shot was done in front of green screen, as it seemed like I could do several times here. It’s like Summit slashed this film’s budget in half after the diminishing box-office returns of “Insurgent,” and the film suffered for it when it was filmed from May to August of last year. (The fast turnaround may not have helped, either.) That’s why I’d like to watch “Insurgent” on a big screen as opposed to at home on Netflix (how I first watched it)- is it the studio’s fault for not throwing money at the franchise, or is Schwentke that inept at visual effects-heavy movies, and a smaller screen hid his faults?
As with “Insurgent,” “Allegiant” ends on a cliffhanger, which makes sense given the book was split into two parts to milk more money from the series without costing much more. (The sooner studios can buck this trend, as well, the better. Learn how to tell a story, much less adapt one, in a lean, economic fashion again.) The only thing distinguishing this franchise from the others who have done this is that parts one and two have been given their own names (part two is subtitled “Ascendent,” and comes out next year), hiding the craven greed from everyone who didn’t read the book series. At least the other ones delivered solid movies, or at least felt justified in the split (especially “Harry Potter” and even “Twilight”). Here, we’re just putting off the inevitable, and if “Ascendent” is anything like “Allegiant,” it’s not going to be worth the wait.
