Insurgent

It’s better than the first one, but I thought the first one kinda stunk, so don’t take that statement as too much of a compliment.

Shailene Woodley is back as Tris – the Divergent girl who might be able to save this dystopian post-apocalyptic civilization (it’s Chicago, but post-Rahm Emanuel) as the factions in her world are on the brink of civil war. She’s on the run with her boyfriend, Four (Theo James), Peter (Miles Teller), and her brother, Caleb (Ansel Elgort), as the evil Jeanine (Kate Winslet) chases them down and frames them for a horrible atrocity.

However, Jeanine isn’t looking to eliminate Tris. She believes the young lady could be the key to opening a special box containing a message from society’s forefathers that can bring peace among the factions, with Jeanine serving as their undisputed leader (you didn’t think the evil leader would do it for the good of the land and people, did you?). Meanwhile, Tris and Four are looking to unite the various factions to prove their innocence, and topple Jeanine before she can execute her dastardly plan to rule the land.

Will Tris be able to evade Jeanine and her thugs?

What is the message in that box?

Insurgent is not the movie to see if you are jumping into the Divergent series for the first time, but I have a feeling you only care about Insurgent if you saw its predecessor.

Director Robert Schwentke and the three person writing team (based on the novel by Veronica Roth) don’t waste any time with a recap of Divergent. Insurgent is off to the races from the get-go with plenty of action sequences, even more angst for Tris and some teenage love story stuff tossed in for the target audience.

In essence, Insurgent plays out like a pale imitation of The Hunger Games complete with the same young adult novel/movie formulaic elements. Many of these themes are as old as storytelling itself, so you can’t fault the team for relying on the tried and true classics spruced up with some modern special effects because they have a lead actress who does everything she can to make it feel important and revelatory for a new generation.

Woodley has some serious talent, but maybe she excels because the story is much better on the more personal and smaller scale. Schwentke hints at a larger, more epic tale beyond our heroine and the cute boy, but it’s the stories about the heroine and the cute boy that work best. The epic is alluded to, but the audience never gets to fully investigate it and understand the larger forces at work.

However, our heroine’s battle for self assurance and inner strength is the key to Insurgent. Woodley is very good at showing the emotions tearing Tris apart, the self doubt that could be her downfall and the power emerging from within as she learns more about the truth and herself. She doesn’t need the formulaic action of cutting her hair short to show us Tris means business! The actress does that all on her own.

Some cool special effects help Insurgent visually impress the audience, but it didn’t seem to be worth the price of a 3-D picture, which is how I saw the movie. I think you can appreciate the visuals just fine in 2-D.

Insurgent ends with the promise of a third installment, which, to keep in the tradition of young adult novels being turned into movies, will be broken up into two more films, but I have to wonder where the story could take us for another four hours. This one seems quite finished here.

Insurgent is rated PG-13 for intense violence and action throughout, some sensuality, thematic elements and brief language.