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.
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