Allegiant - movie review
Allegiant
Plot: After the earth-shattering revelations of Insurgent, Tris must escape with Four beyond the wall that encircles Chicago, to finally discover the shocking truth of the world around them.
Cast: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Jeff Daniels
Director: Robert Schwentke
Rating: 12A
Runtime: 2hrs
Release Date: Thursday 10th March 2016
I was prepared to despise this movie. The trailers looked awful and it was yet another entry into the 'Dystopian Young Adult' genre. One of the only factors that gave me slight hope was that Detergent (sorry, Divergent) and its sequel, Insurgent, were not terrible. I didn't mind the initial film in the franchise but the sequel certainly was a severe step down. So now, after the obligatory year gap between films, we have the third entry into the -gent series, Allegiant. And again, I don't find these films to be terrible like others do. They just aren't very good.
The character of Tris (Woodley) really confuses me. Throughout the first and second films, she was a very weak and uninteresting character who, whenever she encountered danger, would be immediately and effortlessly saved by Four (James). This caused me to never feel a single moment of tension because I was just waiting for Four to bust in and save Tris. Here however, the director and writers switch it up a little. There were a couple times where Tris actually got her hands dirty saving Four who was in distress. But the problem was that the action scenes were too few and far between. To make matters worse, Woodley felt more like a supporting character in her own movie. Considering that this book was split into two parts with the final installment coming next year, it seemed that the director had to fill up time by focusing on the actual supporting characters with forced and unnecessary storylines. Woodley was fine as always and it does seem that she actively cares about her character, but it's a shame that the director doesn't. Her overall arc is pretty much identical to the films before this and then you have to understand that those films are basically copies of other films before it. So overall, Tris feels like a second-rate character whilst Allegiant, in my opinion, belongs to Four. During the previous films in the franchise, I have not liked the character of Four nor the performance by Theo James. He just felt really wooden and uninterested in what he was creating. But in Allegiant, he shows us exactly what he can do because I can only assume that the writers took their time to expand his character. With this third film, I finally got to know Four and what purpose he could serve in the franchise. The writers fleshed him out and made him a more compelling character to watch rather than just a dashing hero to smoulder at the camera and kick some ass now and again. Four played a vital part to the story which is what I was hoping from Divergent and Insurgent.
Miles Teller also reprises his role as Peter. Peter is an unlikeable schmuck. I understand that he is meant to be an unlikeable schmuck. Teller does a good job at presenting him as an unlikeable schmuck. But when he goes through the same cycle as previous films and then expect us to care for him as his life hangs in the balance, we just don't. Why? Because he's an unlikeable schmuck. It is also clear to see that Teller is only staying in these films because of a contract he signed long before Whiplash. If you have yet to see Whiplash, that film showcases how excellent Teller really is. As well as Teller supporting Tris and Four, we also have Caleb (Ansel Elgort). I'm never quite sure what to think of Elgort and the character he portrays. He's been in good roles such as Augustus Water in The Fault In Our Stars but he seems really bored in these Divergent films. Also, his character spouted these random and bizarre facts that didn't really benefit the progress of the film. It was almost like an attempt at comedy that didn't work. In fact, those additions by Caleb took me out of the movie completely because his random factual information reminded me of a friend who shall remain nameless (Hi Dom). Naomi Watts and Octavia Spencer also come back again for what I presume, is a pretty hefty paycheck. They are decent at best but at least they don't mail it in. They just don't care enough to give it their all. Jeff Daniels joins the cast as yet another high ranking figure who suddenly appears to be not all they seem. Like most others, Daniels is fine and doesn't present a glaring problem with this film, but one moment had me chuckling in particular. After delivering some informative dialogue to Tris, Daniels looks directly at the camera with a pained expression. I understand that it works for the context of the movie but I couldn't help but think that it was the actor informing us that he didn't want to be there. What I do have to mention was the actor Jonny Weston. He doesn't have the largest of roles but having seen him in Insurgent, Project Almanac and now Allegiant, I ask for Weston to stop acting. He may be a nice guy in real life but being in front of the camera really doesn't suit him. He should just get married, have a couple of kids and work in an office somewhere, far away from a film camera.
Moving onto the story, Allegiant tries to be inventive in switching up the story by adding another group of people who we shouldn't trust. Except it isn't different. Instead, Jeff Daniels and his band of merry men, women and children simply replace the dictatorship led by Kate Winslet from the first two films. With that in place, Allegiant was so preposterously predictable. Every single part of the film is so obviously signposted that they might as well have written 'Bad Guy' on some of the foreheads of characters or 'Going To Die' on others. I kid you not when I say that after watching five minutes of the film, you can have a pretty good guess where and how this film will end and the likelihood would be that you're right. And when the film does end, all of the characters seem to be in place as they were before. So as an audience, we spent two hours watching a film that just didn't do anything. There was no progression nor any regression. But one thing that I do like and appreciate about this film and the franchise as a whole, was the inventiveness that they incorporate. It might not work all the time but I like that the writers and production team go for it. Some parts do not work in favour of the film whereas some actually add excitement. But a large problem is that moments to where the film could ramp up the tension and finally provide the thrill I had been waiting for, ultimately result in either a disappointing anti-climax or just a stupid conclusion. One moment that just seemed ridiculous and a forced attempt to remind us that Tris and Four love each other, was showing them making out on a rooftop. That isn't too much of a problem at face value, until it is revealed that people are being murdered and executed below them and they are fine with it. Not only is this wildly stupid to include, but is inaccurate to the characters that had been developed in the previous installments.
I have to reinforce that I did not hate this film. What I hate is the overuse of the 'Dystopian Young Adult' genre and how very little of the entries into this genre do anything different. Whilst watching Allegiant, I was constantly reminded of scenes and story moments that are almost identical to plot points in either The Maze Runner series or The Hunger Games saga. What this genre lacks in any form of originality and Allegiant does very little to alleviate this problem. That being said, the production team have also seemed to improve upon the special effects. Considering that they had to add more effects for the devastation of Chicago, the wastelands past the wall and the stronghold of Jeff Daniels, it looked pretty good. There were a couple times where the transport ships looked clearly computer generated but apart from that, the visual effects were pretty solid. As was the action. Some of the complaints I had about Insurgent (less so with Divergent) was the messy and unclear action sequences. Obviously Schwentke had learnt from his mistakes and films some effective and clearly visible fight scenes. Four does seem to possess some ungodly strength that is quite unrealistic whilst others characters flail around helplessly but that isn't too much of an issue.
Allegiant probably ranks second in the Divergent series with the first entry in top position. It isn't inherently bad, but when it is, it's tough to watch. The cast are passable but I just felt that the movie was average at best. There isn't an attempt to be anything more than a generic entry into it's overblown genre. We have one final film in this series and I'm intrigued to see where it will go and conclude but I'm not really that excited for it.
My Verdict: 5.5/10
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