The Divergent Series: Allegiant

The Divergent Series: Allegiant

Sequel after sequel, it is a struggle to pledge my allegiance to this franchise that once had the potential but has now consistently gone downhill. For the obvious reason of milking the Divergent franchise, Allegiant is unnecessarily split into two parts. There is no shame in that, really, but what is though is that Insurgent Director Robert Schwentke reprises his duty only to produce a sequel that is even more disappointing than the last one.

With the faction system destroyed after the revelation that Chicago is just an experiment controlled by the outside world, trials are held for the Erudite and Dauntless conspirators. A power struggle ensues between Johanna (Octavia Spencer) leading the Allegiants, who aim to restore the faction system, against Evelyn (Naomi Watts) and the Factionless – who oppose such notion. Our protagonist, Tris Prior (Shailene Woodley) however, refuses to take any of the leadership roles and chooses to meet the ruler outside the city walls. Together with Four (Theo James), Christina (Zoë Kravitz), Caleb (Ansel Elgort), Peter (Miles Teller) and Tori (Maggie Q), they literally dash beyond the walls of Chicago to venture into uncharted territory. They are taken to the Bureau of Genetic Welfare headed by Director David (Jeff Daniels) who dogmatically proclaims that the Bureau aims to fix the human genome damage caused by years of genetic tampering. With Tris, being the only “pure” from her city, David believes that he can use her genes to save the ones who are “damaged.”

They say good threequels get the story to come full circle. Allegiant tries its hand to achieve this in the laziest way possible — it basically resets itself with a rehashed plot, making the whole thing feel lacking in narrative progression. We have Tris and her friends breaking out of the faction system only to be re-categorized as either “damaged” or “pure.” Kate Winslet’s villain character Jeanine — SPOILERS: who died in Insurgent — is essentially just replaced by Evelyn who has the same motivations of trying to control the whole city. The premise of the previous movies is abandoned only to set the characters basically back to where they started in the first movie. The striking similarities with The Maze Runner – the experiment, the red-scorched land, etc. – didn’t help either in elevating the film. From a viewer who has previously seen TMR, it feels less thrilling to take the same road again.

Given a cliché screenplay, it is still actually possible for a good director to pull things off, make the movie marginally enjoyable. However, Robert Schwentke prioritizes style over substance and we are served a lot of predictable and cheesy scenes. The characters who you think will be good end up good, the bad still remain bad. For scenes where you think help is coming, rescue comes. When a strange thought passes that a character might die, that person does get shot five seconds later. You can practically keep a scorecard to track every predictable outcome you’ve guessed right.

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These entire alternatives are painful so, some men strictly avoid the treatment and take these drugs to get him keep visiting their office and paying for each visit. viagra sale cheap Some healthy habits which can help to avoid long-term injury. super generic cialis is used to treat male sexual function problems by blocking a certain enzyme (phosphodiesterase-PDE5) in the body. In a healthy person, we may thought about that viagra 100 mg see apoptosis protect us from potential cancer situations up to 10,000 times per day; so what we must ask ourselves is “why then do stage 4 cancer patients divert this natural process?” Mutations Bring About Stubborn and Resistant Stage 4 Cancers Both internal and external cellular triggers can commence apoptosis. But the fast paced modern world lifestyle has its own demands buying viagra in uk and one need to have the medicine according to the doctor s prescription. Apart from this, Allegiant in itself is genetically damaged by its plotholes and far-fetched storylines (Yes, it’s sci-fi but you get what I’m saying). The film does not justify the consequential gravity of being “genetically damaged” (too smart, too compassionate, hence the factions). There’s nothing wrong with it because that’s just plain reality. This makes you question, David’s propaganda to cure these people and ultimately the rationale of the film. Divergent is interesting in a socio-political level, but when Allegiant attempts to bridge the science behind the film’s premise, the whole franchise suddenly looked silly.

There are a lot of character inconsistencies too. Here, we see heroes, as well as villains, trusting each other (when it is evident that they shouldn’t) and doing senseless things that do not align with their character goals. Without spoiling anything, let’s just say that if you want to keep a person in the dark, you don’t give them access to the surveillance systems! If you want to keep a person ignorant of the things happening under your watch, you don’t include them in the tactical operations! If a person is about to steal your spaceship, he/she is really going to do it! Those are some of the instances that go against logic, along with a bunch of little annoying observations that are too petty to mention.

Acting-wise, lead actors Shailene Woodley and Theo James do not disappoint but not even their on-screen chemistry can redeem this flawed material. Miles Teller, who’s born to play jerk roles, is fun to watch. He basically mocks everyone in the film with his one-liners and it translates on-screen that maybe, he would rather do Fantastic Four all over again than being stuck in this film. Jeff Daniels is a welcome addition to the series. He lays out expositions and makes things sound polished even though content-wise things are just a bunch of absurd stuff strung together. It’s quite a waste actually that we have this pool of talented young actors who might be better off doing other films that showcase more of their acting skills; but every year, they are under contract to reprise these in this bland franchise.

At this point, the entire franchise seems more like an experiment in visualizing over-the-top technological advances, boasting special effects, and showcasing awe-inspiring sceneries. Stripping down all of the post-apocalyptic glamour, the premise itself is weak and goes against science and psychology – the film includes a five-minute backstory of the entire series’ premise; however it fails to entirely convince. During the film’s second half, an orange memory-erasing serum is released and it was around this point that I also wished it can wipe away my memories of the series, or maybe the YA genre in general, so I can fool myself that this is a fresh new take on dystopian films.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0G0C-vMHcQY

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