(No SPOILERS! If you read the book, I'm not spoiling anything in my review of the movie for you!)
Just like I did with the book, I totally got swept away with the movie.
The casting was perfect! I don't think they could have had a more perfect cast than they had with Divergent. That includes all the actors/actresses involved. They literally brought the characters I both loved and hated in this book to life, and did so spot on. In my opinion this is the best acting that's been done in a YA book to movie adaptation yet. Theo and Shailene were THE PERFECT Four and Tris. Their chemistry was perfection. You can't act that kind of chemistry. Either you have it or you don't, and they definitely had it.
I know everyone has swooned over Four. Let's be honest, Theo was the most perfect Four. But, the person who made this movie for me was Tris. Shailene embodied this character so perfectly. Kudos for the movie studio for making sure Tris was bad a**! Thank you for not dumbing down her character. My biggest fear in seeing this movie was that Tris on screen would not be the Tris I read about, and thankfully they are the exact same Tris!
The entire cast rocked! I hope the entire book series gets made into a movie, and that the entire cast comes back for it. Including Veronica Roth! Oh yeah, you can spot her in a scene in the movie. The script writing was brilliant! Finally a movie that felt like those behind making it got the book, and actually read it. They got what was key from the book, and incorporated it into the movie. Since it's impossible to include everything from the book and put into a two hour movie, some minor things will get changed, and some things won't make it to the screen. What changed and what didn't make it didn't bother me, because what I got was perfect!
There is so much action in this movie. I loved it! If you've read the book, you know it's non stop action. I felt that they toned down some of the violence, but there's still plenty in it. The Dauntless Fraction is ruthless, and they have to be, but so is the world they're apart of. While reading the books I was totally Team Dauntless, but now seeing the movie, I still like to think I would do half of what they do, but I'm not so sure I'd have survived. lol Another thing I liked about the movie is mixed into the action, and chemistry is plenty of moments that will make you laugh.
This movie had that great mix of everything I loved about the book, brought to life on the big screen.
Everything that I saw on the screen was fabulous. I think one of the huge success this movie has that others lacked, was the fact that Veronica was apart of this movie, and two, the studio got it! They got the fact that if they changed the story line around to what they thought it needed to be, vs staying true to the books (the best they could), it wouldn't work. Sadly not staying true to the books is what's ruined it with other YA book to movie adaptations, and why they failed in the theaters. Divergent's movie adaptation was like reading the book all over again.
(K.A. Tucker, Cora Carmack, YA Sisterhood, Chelsea M Cameron, Chelsea Fine, Heather Self, KP Simmon, Myself, Vilma's Book Blog)
My only complaints are (which are rather petty, but I can't help myself):
- I find it completely embarrassing on the part of those who edited this movie and totally missed the scene when right after Four throws the knives, and one cutes Tris's ear, and right after that she's talking to Four, and magically all the blood is gone, and then in the following scene it's back. Yeah, that shouldn't have been missed. Hey, I warned you, I'm a reviewer, and like a book that's poorly edited, I'm all over this stuff in a movie.
- Same goes for the end when Four and Tris are fighting. One scene she's bruised and bloody, and the next scene it's not as bad. Apparently being Divergent means you heal quickly.
- MORE FOUR & TRIS kissing!!!!!! Oh for the love of Four and Tris we needed more kissy scenes. Don't laugh, you know you thought the same thing too. I'm greedy. I want more Tris and Four.
GO SEE THIS MOVIE!!!! This is one movie I'll happily go see again and again!