The Divergent Series: Allegiant Movie Poster Image

The Divergent Series: Allegiant

(i)

 

Mediocre third installment still violent; strays from book.
  • Review Date: March 18, 2016
  • Rated: PG-13
  • Genre: Action/Adventure
  • Release Year: 2016
  • Running Time: 121 minutes

What parents need to know

Positive messages

While previous films in the series dealt with identity and destiny, this installment explores issues of diversity and discrimination. Tris' crusade encourages people to look beyond what divides them and seek to work together.

Positive role models

Tris is (as always) courageous, but in this installment she's not very intuitive about others' intentions. Four is clear-headed and brave, but he's also hot-headed. Caleb redeems himself by finally being loyal to Tris as his only remaining family.  Tris and Four have a loving relationship in which they respect each other, even when they don't agree.

Violence

People die via gunshot wounds (including execution-style murders at close range), but there's a conspicuous lack of blood, so occasionally it's unclear whether characters have been killed or just left unconscious (in some cases, it's obvious, but in others it's ambiguous). Fist-fighting and vehicle crashes injure/kill characters. A serum/gas that erases people's memories is unleashed on the population, frightening them and immediately affecting some of them. Lots of danger/peril.

Sex

Several kisses, a couple of them passionate. Four tells Tris: "I wish we could be alone" before an intense kiss. Two different shower scenes show brief silhouettes of Four's bare chest/back and Tris' entire back -- and then a dark shadow of her whole figure from the back.

Language

A couple of uses of "ass," "s--t," and "s--tless," plus insults like "stiff," "damaged," "ass kisser."

Consumerism
Not applicable
Drinking, drugs, & smoking
Not applicable

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Allegiant is the second-to-last movie in the Divergent series. Based on the first half of the final book in Veronica Roth's best-selling trilogy, the adaptation continues the saga of Tris (Shailene Woodley) and her partner in love and war, Four (Theo James). The violence is on par with the second film, but there's a conspicuous lack of blood, even during execution-style murders in which someone is shot at close range. There's slightly less romance in this one, with a few passionate kisses but no love scene; two nonsexual shower scenes show Tris' silhouetted nude backside and Four's bare chest. Strong language is infrequent but includes a few uses of "s--t" and "ass." Tris, while still unfailingly courageous, makes a mistake this time by blindly trusting someone whom viewers will be able to tell is shady; Four continues to be a brave, if brooding, boyfriend to her. Readers, be aware: Many of the movie plot's details are quite different than in the book.

What's the story?

ALLEGIANT wastes no time picking up shortly after the events of Insurgent, with Factionless leader Evelyn (Naomi Watts) holding show trials for Jeanine's treasonous Erudite and Dauntless followers in front of surprisingly bloodthirsty crowds. Before Tris' (Shailene Woodley) brother, Caleb (Ansel Elgort), can be executed like the other accused collaborators, the siblings, Four (Theo James), Christina (Zoe Kravitz), and Peter (Miles Teller) -- who blackmails his way into the group -- scale the wall to see what's outside their city of Chicago. What they find is an invisible "camera wall," beyond which is an area controlled by the Bureau of Genetic Welfare. The Bureau's area leader, David (Jeff Daniels), and his employees reveal that the the Faction-based society is in fact a generations-old experiment to see whether humanity's "damaged" genes could heal themselves without genetic modification. The Bureau monitors the Chicago experiment with round-the-clock surveillance. Tris, of course, is deemed genetically "pure," while the other Divergents (including Four) -- and everyone else -- are labeled damaged. David insists on daily one-on-ones with Tris to study her, while a suspicious Four realizes that the Bureau doesn't care about the folks back home.

Is it any good?

QUALITY

Something has broken in this adaptation of Veronica Roth's final book; despite strong leads, the third installment ranges from passably mediocre to cringe-inducingly awful. Although the trilogy's last book suffered from a dual point of view and other flaws, the adaptation is nowhere near as engrossing. Yes, you always expect that an adaptation will stray somewhat from its source material, but Allegiant will leave book fans perplexed about what's going on, since so much is completely different -- not just in the plot, but also in terms of character development. (It's practically impossible to believe that, despite having run out of anything to say, there's still one more adaptation left to come in the film franchise.)

While many readers have enjoyed the book trilogy as much as The Hunger Games, the same isn't true of the film adaptations. The comparison between the franchises is apt: Both are dystopian trilogies with capable, intelligent heroines who aren't afraid to fight for what they believe. But despite gifted actors like Woodley, this series got stuck with lackluster directors. Between the subpar special effects (the terrible green-screen backgrounds are especially amateurish) and the laughable extras who don't know how to believably carry a crowd scene, Allegiant is a mess that can't even be saved by Tris and Four's romance. Even their love story hits a snag this time.

Families can talk about...

Movie details

Theatrical release date:March 18, 2016
Cast:Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Miles Teller
Director:Robert Schwentke
Studio:Summit Entertainment
Genre:Action/Adventure
Topics:Book characters, Great girl role models
Run time:121 minutes
MPAA rating:PG-13
MPAA explanation:intense violence and action, thematic elements, and some partial nudity

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Teen, 14 years old Written byI'm a teen. March 16, 2016

I've seen this before?

This reminds me of the Maze Runner somehow?
What other families should know
Too much violence
Too much sex
Too much swearing
Teen, 17 years old Written byilovemoviesandtv March 23, 2016

Two of the most boring hours of my life!!

"Allegiant" was very disappointing. It felt very rushed, like they didn't have time to write the script and plot properly. The whole movie was extremely boring overall. I kept checking the time every five minutes and almost left the theatre. I wasn't invested in the main characters and could care less if one of them died. There was a lot of annoying heavy breathing, awkward and unnecessary kisses, and tiresome conversation. There was a few jokes but it only hit lightly. Not worth the money or time!
What other families should know
Too much violence
Teen, 13 years old Written byblah1234567890- March 30, 2016

Allegiant Movie

I liked the movie just fine (hence the 3 star rating). I did not enjoy the last allegiant book, and actually enjoyed the movie more than I enjoyed the book. It does stray very far from the book, which I know can be annoying, so that is just a warning. The nudity is either just people's backs (and you don't see anything) or it is in sillhouet (I don't know how to spell it, I'm bad at spelling, but it's when the background is lighter and so it's all black) so you couldn't see any stuff in detail, but it was still a bit awkward for me.
What other families should know
Too much sex

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