Divergent [2]: Insurgent (2015) [Blu-ray]
Adventure | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline: One Choice Can Destroy You

The Divergent Series: Insurgent raises the stakes for Tris (Shailene Woodley) as she searches for answers and allies in this star- powered, action-packed second adventure from the Divergent series. On the run and targeted by ruthless faction leader Jeanine (Kate Winslet), Tris fights to protect the people she loves, facing one impossible challenge after another as she and Four (Theo James) race to unlock the truth about the past - and ultimately the future - of their world.

Storyline: One choice can transform you-or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves--and herself--while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love. Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable--and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships. Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so. Written by howardjake17

Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman, July 30, 2015 -- Let's be honest: will so-called "young adults" ever even look away from their computer monitors or up from their hand held devices to notice that there's an Apocalypse going on? As the father of two personal electronics obsessed teenagers, my unwavering answer is no (and maybe even hell, no). The "YA" market is awash in dystopian dramas, from the adventures of Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games to the labyrinth scaling of Thomas in The Maze Runner, making a lot of the Divergent franchise seem repetitive, derivative and frankly a bit on the lackluster side. Insurgent picks up more or less right where Divergent left off, with the "faction" system of a dystopian future Chicago (or what's left of it, anyway) crumbling from within, courtesy of the machinations of power mad Jeanine Mathews (Kate Winslet). Beatrice ("Tris") Prior (Shailene Woodley), her brother Caleb (Ansel Elgort), Four (Theo James) and Peter Hayes (Miles Teller) are holed up in the Amity faction, even as Jeanine broadcasts an unabashedly duplicitous formal public statement distancing herself from the melée which capped Divergent, blaming it on rogue Dauntless activists, which of course include Tris and her cohorts. Jeanine is obsessed with a totemic artifact that acolyte Eric Coulter (Jai Courtney) discovers in the shambles of the Abnegation attack, a "Macguffin" of sorts that propels the overly circuitous plot of Insurgent forward, albeit with a number of detours along the way. Insurgent veers off into something akin to virtual reality territory as it moves along, even including a VR analogue to that old wives' tale that if you die in a dream, you'll die in "real life" as well.

Part of the "sophomore slump" that has sometimes attended previous second installments of franchises (whether outright trilogies or not) is the fact that almost by definition the gambit of this position is to act as a bridge between the expository first installment and whatever excitement awaits in the climax. Insurgent does a rather good job of jumping into the fray from the get go, giving just enough of a reminder of the backstory to reacquaint viewers with what's going on, some of it courtesy of a dream sequence which also reveals the inner angst which will color Tris' actions throughout the film.

One outright betrayal and a later development that at least looks like another betrayal may keep some viewers slightly off kilter, though of course things turn out to not be entirely as they seem. Tris becomes a (willing?) pawn in Jeanine's game, becoming a captive repeatedly subjected to a "simulation serum" that Jeanine hopes will provide Tris the tools to open the mysterious artifact. Jeanine's public posture is that the artifact contains a secret that will allow the final eradication of all divergents, though prescient viewers will probably have a hunch that this element, too, is not entirely as it seems.

Insurgent has a couple of standout set pieces, but it can't help but feel overly manipulative at times, especially as it attempts to wreak as much havoc in Tris' emotional life as possible. The film also has a tendency to lapse into completely predictable clichés at several given moments, including a ludicrous (if blessedly short) "death" of a major character that (of course) turns out to not be entirely as it seems (are you sensing a pattern here?).

While never offering anything remotely approaching a real surprise, Insurgent is at least buoyed by some quite effective performances. Woodley is forced to cope with some overly florid scenes in this installment, but still manages to make Tris a believably spunky if troubled heroine. Winslet is a lot of fun as the harridan and scheming Jeanine, all placid and calm exterior masking a very febrile interior life. Naomi Watts also is well modulated as a new character with a special relationship to an existing major character, and who becomes something of a fulcrum upon which some of the revolutionary fervor of the Dauntless and factionless brigades hinges.

Insurgent lumbers along, ticking off plot points at will in an obvious attempt to move the story along to the point where the real good stuff can start. There's not one putative "twist" in this entry that any decent movie lover is not going to guess miles before it's actually revealed, but the film at least offers some spectacular set pieces and good performanes from Woodley, Winslet and Watts. The whole Divergent franchise has seemed like a knockoff of better known and just plain better fare, and that perception is only reinforced with this fitfully engaging but overall kind of tired entry. Technical merits are generally incredibly strong, and the supplemental package well stocked, so with caveats noted, Insurgent as an overall Blu-ray release (if not as an actual film) comes Recommended.

[CSW] -2.3- I rented the 2D version to see if I might be interested in getting the 3D version but the story line was so weak that I wouldn't think of getting either version. I rated the first of the Divergent Series Divergent a 2.5. This one was not even that good. The highlights of this movie were the dystopian set pieces. The story is simplistic, the dialogue pedestrian, so much so it gets embarrassing at points. Even the ending was telegraphed from the moment they found the box, with the exception of Naomi shooting Kate in the back of the head, portending the real evil she is surely capable of (and probably the set up for the third of maybe four movies).
[V4.5-A5.0] MPEG-4 AVC - No D-Box.


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