Movie Review | The Divergent Series: Allegiant (Lights, Camera, Action!)

The Divergent Series: Allegiant (UK Rating: 12A)

Part two, Insurgent, ended with revolution, the overthrow of a dictator and the end in sight of the faction system that had kept the peace in post-dystopian Chicago. Now, Tris (Shailene Woodley), can't stop wondering what lies beyond the wall surrounding the city, so, with her group of friends including Four (Theo James) and Peter (Miles Teller), she decides to find out. What they discover is the Bureau of Genetic Welfare, a much more peaceful place with no in-fighting and no faction system. The Director of the Bureau singles out Tris to play a vital role in his major new experiment but, while she's happy to help, the rest of her gang are suspicious that the Bureau and its Director aren't all they appear to be.

While the makers of Allegiant will no doubt argue that plunging the main characters into another setting shows they are ready for a new world and a new adventure, that's not quite the whole story. It's more than apparent from the film that the franchise is running out of steam: the destruction of the faction system means the teen heroes have lost their greatest enemy, so they have to find another one. It's also more obvious than ever that the series is a clone of The Hunger Games, and an inferior one at that, especially now that traces of other Young Adult movies are creeping in. The challenge of the city wall is very Maze Runner, so, by the time that the climax arrives, complete with a bright orange memory-erasing serum to invade the city, it's all become rather predictable and silly.

4/10

Subpar

The Divergent Series: Allegiant is easily the weakest so far, by some margin. Its only hope is that the Director of part four will breathe some much-needed life into this pale imitation of The Hunger Games. In the meantime, perhaps audiences can be provided with some of that orange serum to wipe out their memories of this tired and tedious offering. Divergent? More like detergent!