‘Allegiant’ Doesn’t Shine As Much As its Divergent Series Predecessors

Although it pains me to say this, the latest installment of the Divergent Series, Allegiant, was subpar at best.
For one, the people who adapted the film from its original novel decided to take out two major storylines. Now Allegiant is a long and dense book, so of course they had to make changes, but one would think that after the decision to split the book into a two-film finale, there would be more room for inclusion.
The basic premise is the still same. After finding out that their entire city was actually a social experiment, Tris, her boyfriend Four, and their friends escape from their dystopian Chicago to see what’s past the walls. Once successfully crossing the barrier, they are rescued by a group of futuristic soldiers who bring them back to the Bureau of Genetic Welfare. Here, they not only find out that the citizens have been watching them grow up Truman Show style, but also learn that years ago society tried to perfect the human genome and as a result ruined humanity – which is where the factions come in. They made people too smart (Erudite) and they lost a sense of empathy. They made people too kind (Amity) and they lost a sense of ambition. These new, ‘damaged’ people began to fight each other and the world almost ended in entirety.
So, the Bureau set up a variety of communities, like Tris’s home, and hoped that people would one day be able to fix themselves and revert back to the ‘pure’ form of humanity. As it turns out, Tris’s divergent identity is actually because she is ‘pure’ – and therefore she is very valuable to the Bureau. It’s here where she meets David, the charming director of the Bureau who turns out to be the bad guy who she automatically trusts more than her friends. Surprise, surprise.
The film isn’t all-bad though. In fact, it’s pretty entertaining for a mindless ‘lets watch a movie and stuff our faces with junk food’ night. Miles Teller continues to bring lightheartedness through his egotistical character Peter. The special effects are really impressive and seamlessly add to the reality of that world. Four is, quite frankly, just fun to look at.
Still, the film feels pointless to a degree. The actors, minus Miles, seem less enthused to be part of this world than they did in its predecessors. More than that though, the story didn’t really lead to anything or feel like it was a necessary set up to the big finale, which, following this, I’m not sure anyone will care about by 2017.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0G0C-vMHcQY
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‘Allegiant’ doesn’t shine as much as its Divergent Series predecessors.: Photos coutesy of Lionsgate