Third film of The Divergent Series sure is swearing allegiance to profit [Review]
The third instalment of The Divergent Series: Allegiant sees Tris and Four trying to escape from their segregated world of factions and out to explore life behind the wall.
Typically the book is the more elaborate version; packed with extra detail that the film just can’t afford to waste time on. Allegiant is quite the opposite. Although there aren’t major changes to the plot, there were a lot of additions and minor details that really stretched out the film. It’s not that they were bad, it just seems that if they weren’t worthwhile additions to the book, how could they improve the movie?
Nit-picking aside, the movie was easy watching and enjoyable. It cuts to the action within the first 20 minutes, and it’s refreshing that they didn’t drag this out. It wasn’t groundbreaking, and everything from the plot to the character relationships is fairly standard and predictable, but the special effects and dystopian-style landscapes are interesting and futuristic. Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the film is that the plot and scenario could be a very possible situation for the human race in the not too distant future, with toxic wasteland and a super hi-tech, manufactured environment that humans need to confine themselves to after they’ve destroyed planet Earth.
The frustrating part is that, like so many before it, there was absolutely no need to split the finale into two films from a content perspective. Allegiant is essentially a stop gap, and this is where it lets itself down. The special effects and buzzing action are merely a smokescreen to disguise the fact it doesn’t really develop the plot or character relationships in a substantial way, so that ultimately, by the end of the film you feel neither enlightened nor satisfied. It’s time film makers stopped thinking so much about what their wallets want, and focused on giving the audience the experience they deserve.