Divergent

Summit Entertainment, looking for the same audience it attracted with Twilight, and its parent company Lionsgate attracts with The Hunger Games, has a new franchise straight from the bookshelf. This is Divergent, by Veronica Roth.

In yet another post-apocalyptic future, Chicago is walled-off from the rest of the world. Inside Chicago, the people belong to one of five factions determined by their strongest virtue. So they're either with Abnegation (the selfless), Amity (the kind), Candor (the honest), Erudite (the wise) or Dauntless (the brave). Or, they're Divergent, which makes them qualify for any of the above. But the ruling class doesn't want that; so, the Divergent are either made dead or Factionless.

Anyway...

Beatrice Prior (Shailene Woodley) of Abnegation, like the other kids her age, is to choose the Faction she'll spend her life in. Her aptitude test exposes her as Divergent, so she officially declares herself Dauntless. The Dauntless are the Security Class, so "Tris," as she calls herself, is dropped into basic training. During training, she discovers a plot by corrupt Erudite against Abnegation.

Call this a rehash of other Young Adult franchises all you want. My problem with Divergent is that it's too long. Tris is an established Divergent within the first twenty-minutes or so. This plot point isn't brought up again until about an hour later, maybe more. In the meantime, there were characters I kept forgetting about and at least one I didn't really get her name. Being unfamiliar with the Book Series didn't help me.

Fortunately, director Neil Burger enlisted some great talent. Chief among them is composer Junkie XL (real name: Tom Holkenborg), whose score is quite a listen. The real and digital set design which created future Chicago was really good. Those two elements come together in a scene where Tris zip-lines through the Chicago Skyline. 

Divergent's pluses make this a respectable try for this genre instead of something I'd rather forget. This should at least satisfy fans of the book series and let everyone else know what this is all about. The next book, Insurgent, is due on-screen next year and whether or not you choose to follow the story is up to you.

Muppets Most Wanted

Because their last big screen adventure was a hit, The Muppets have a new one. Their eighth feature is Muppets Most Wanted and here's the review.

It literally opens at the moment The Muppets ended. 

So now that The Muppets have reclaimed their studio and have become relevant again, what do they do? A sequel! But they have no idea what do this time. 

Enter Dominic Badguy (Ricki Gervais), who suggests that they take The Muppet Show across Europe. That's one idea, what else?

The evil thief Constantine has escaped from a Siberian GULAG. Badguy is his "Number Two," as he constantly reminds him. Badguy sets up the aforementioned tour to give Constantine a cover for his heists. And since Constantine is a dead-ringer for Kermit the Frog, the old switcheroo is easy to do.

So Kermit's now in the GULAG, where a law-abidingly dense guard, Nadya, (Tina Fey) runs the show. And with Not-Kermit running the Muppet Show, the Muppets can do any act they want. Will someone figure out which frog is where?

As is typical with The Muppets, there's lots of self-referential humor, musical numbers and celebrity cameos here. There's even a musical number where they make fun of the idea of sequels. And among celebrity cameos, check out Christoph Waltz doing the Waltz. And oh yes, the musical numbers were catchy.

This Muppet Caper is 113 minutes long, which is ten minutes longer than the last one. And it certainly feels long at places. All but Animal, of all Muppets, figures out the switcheroo early on. Nadya figures out off-screen, but she still keeps Kermit in the GULAG! The fact that this is a silly comedy makes this a bit forgivable. And the physical comedy bits definitely kept me through the film.

Those looking for an energetic family movie outing won't be disappointed. Muppets Most Wanted is a suitably silly Muppets adventure. Who knows where it ranks among Muppet movies? All that matters is this was a fun time.

And there's also a Pixar short starring the cast of Monster's University, Party Central. That was the best part of the picture.

Mr. Peabody and Sherman

Rocky & Bullwinkle's time-traveling co-stars Mr. Peabody and Sherman are back. This time, they make their cinematic debut in the latest CGI 3D Animated escapade from Dreamworks.

Mr. Peabody is the world's smartest dog. Sherman is his human adopted son. They spend their time going around time in Peabody's WABAC time machine. One minute, they're in the court of Marie Antoinette. Another, they're in the Trojan War. So forth and so on.

But Sherman has to go to school now. On his first day, he makes enemies of the mean girl, Penny Peterson. Their ensuing fight puts Peabody's custody of Sherman at risk. So now, Peabody invites Penny and her family for dinner so she and Sherman can make nice.

Penny and Sherman use the WABAC behind Peabody's back. This brings about some temporal chaos, so our heroes have to fix it. One thing leads to another and ...

It wants to entertain both kids and adults at the same time. I say it does it pretty well. Kids will surely enjoy the animated action scenes as our heroes evade such foes as Madame Guillotine and the Trojan Army. Adults will get a chuckle out of the movie and historical references through out the picture. Peabody's illustrated thinking process was also a highlight.

Its biggest running gag is someone reacting to a joke with a deadpan "I don't get it." Its story execution might have you saying the same thing. There's a lot of time paradox stuff later in the movie; by a lot, I mean a lot. Penny also goes from hostile to supporting Sherman too quickly. Fortunately, the fun factor isn't smashed into the pavement by these story flaws.

Mr. Peabody and Sherman is an admirably fun early year animated film. It's certainly worth going to a Flatscreen Showing on a Matinee. But only go on a 3D showing if you really, really want to.

It's preceded by a funny short called "Almost Home," which features cuddly Aliens in search of a new planet. It's also a stealth preview of Dreamworks' Thanksgiving release of Home.

Tune in Next Time for "Muppets Most Wanted" or "Frog Prevention."

300: Rise of an Empire

THIS! IS! ...

Uh, I don't know what this is.

What I am aware of is that it's 300: Rise of an Empire, a continuation of the Frank Miller graphic novel cinematized as 300. You can also call this a precession, intercession and continuation of the ultimate macho Greek story.

Leonidas and his 300 Spartans have fallen at Thermopylae. But first, a flashback!

Precession: The heroic Themistocles of Athens (Sullivan Stapleton) slew the Persian King Darius I (Yigal Naor) at the Battle of Marathon while his son, Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro) watched. The Evil Artemisia (Eva Green) goads him to become "a God," the only thing that can thwart the Greeks. And in due time, Xerxes reinvents himself into the bald, golden giant introduced in the first film.

Intercession: Xerxes plans to conquer the world and only the 300 Spartans decide to thwart him. Except that Themistocles also wants to thwart Xerxes; but to do so, he has to get the Greek City States together. Queen Gorgo of Sparta (Lena Headey) tells him to count her out. So ...

Continuation: Now that the 300 Spartans are dead, it's up to Team Themistocles to finish the fight. Artemisia proves to be a formidable adversary.

Yes, it's that kind of sequel.

Noam Murro, known mainly for directing commercials, makes his first film since the Indie movie Smart People. Zack Snyder, director and co-writer of the first film, produces and co-writes this one.

The end result is a computerized bloody display of stupidity. It's not the good kind of bloody stupidity; it's all violence and no impact. It's the "Uh, OK," kind of violence instead of the intended "Oh, wow!" or "So stupid it's funny" type of violence. A scene involving two confused Masked Persian Guards was the only thing that got a laugh out of me.

Green, as Artemisia, is supposed to be a psychotic villainess with a sad backstory. But she's so psychotic that her backstory doesn't even compute. I found her more repulsive than sympathetic; if you want to find a sympathetic villain, watch Captain Phillips.

Fans of the original film may get their money's worth in either 3D or Flatscreen. Those ambivalent to the first movie, whether they've seen it or not, should find something else.