The Divergent Series: Insurgent

Book purists will certainly have a lot of material to bemoan about Insurgent. For every positive element that's true to the story (we finally meet Uriah, played by Aussie hunk Keiynan Lonsdale; Winslet and Watts are fabulous as leaders with very different views of the Factions; and Teller steals his scenes as opportunistic, sarcastic Peter), there too many underwhelming, underplayed, and divergent (pardon the pun) bits from the original story. Even given the expectation that an adaptation will sometimes dramatically change the elements that jump from page to screen, the Insurgent filmmakers made some head-scratching choices that don't bode well for the future of the franchise.

What is still engaging about the series is the strength of Woodley's acting, the intense appeal of James as Four (their chemistry is debatable, but it's still more believable than Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson's in the Hunger Games films), and the veteran actors all doing their best with a series that isn't connecting as seamlessly on the screen as it did on the page. During a few scenes, Woodley fans may marvel (and laugh) at seeing her interact with James, Teller, and Elgort -- all of whom she's had romantic relationships with in movies. The visuals and simulations in this film are also even more dazzling than the ones in Divergent. It will be interesting to see how the screenwriter and director handle the plot and perspective changes of Roth's highly divisive final book, Allegiant, for the last two movies.