Allegiant (2016) Reviews

• Divergent... Insurgent... Washing Detergent

  ahassan-123422016-04-01

  The worst of the Divergent series to date, in Allegiant we finally see what lies beyond the walls which encircle Chicago. Answer: 120 minutes of utter tedium. We follow our protagonists- doe-eyed Tris and perpetually dull Four- through the wastelands and into the hands of sinisterly-titled Bureau of Genetic Welfare, led by Jeff Daniels' character David. What follows is multiple occasions of Tris being called up to David's office for meetings- like an episode of The Apprentice- but instead of getting fired she exchanges some of the dullest exposition dialogue heard in the cinema so far this year. The set of David's office is so over-designed and green-screened to the point that it just became a distraction. There are large swathes of the film's running time where nothing seems to happen, no surprise considering this is the first of two parts of what is one book. The decision to split the final novel into two is for reasons which can really only be described as monetary, a gamble which appears not to have paid off judging by the box office takings. Miles Teller's character attempts to inject some comic relief into the proceedings but even his jokes fall flat. An absolutely turgid affair.

• ridiculous nonsense

  baberchik2016-03-29

  OK so the first movie ("Divergent"), despite what the people who read the books say, was basically another soap opera - slash - action movie directed at what I am guessing teen audience. Just like Mockingjay, just like Maze Runner. But despite the absolute soap overload in some parts at least the plots were somewhat original though they all had that tell-tale post-apocalyptic-dystopic- 1984ish plot commonality, but all of them kinda "did okay" at least in each own way and at least managed to have SOME major and original plot differences that made them over all okay and entertaining to watch. But this movie... oh boy. Flying "cars", even more conspiracy nonsense, small flying discs that create placenta (or was it "plasma"? lol) bubbles around people, small spheres that create a forcefield/illusion/barrier/something, more evil manipulative characters that make no sense, new evil characters, new absurdities of human behavior.... and genetic manipulation? Genetic projects? Memory wiping gas-serum-something? Or how about this: poisonous wasteland covered in radioactive puddles and 100% scorched earth and not a single vegetable left alive... but guess what, people live there, in tents and stuff. Probably doing pow-wows to entertain each other or some other nonsense. I am at a loss. The plot of the movie Vs the actors and the way it was filmed is like... like... eating a pancake, a pretty good one, but there's just one pancake and the rest is a bucket of cream, chocolate, syrup, candy canes, cake sprinkles and whatever else dumped on it. OK another analogy: imagine if a hyperactive 6 year old had to write the plot of all Star Wars movies. Sure there would be action by the boatloads, but the plot would make absolutely no sense. A total overdose of hyped up nonsense, and this is exactly what this movie is. Literally 30 mins into the movie the plot just went supersonic and went in one eye and out the other. Absolute garbage that made no sense at all. Plus the plot now has like 100 different cliffhangers to hang on to, so they'll be milking this movie until the next coming of Christ or until the audiences are just numbed by the continuous river of nonsense that this movie is. Oh and last thing - IMDb mods, better wake up and do your job. Some of the reviews here are so flat, so like a rant a used car salesman would make that they are obviously paid/fake and are not honest... like not at all.

• Well.... that was horrible!

  lauravankessel2016-07-18

  So... Without spoiling the book OR this movie; the movie sucked, the book did not. There is way, way more sci-fi then necessary, and BAD sci-fi that is! It's really poorly done, bad CGI and stuff. And where the story from the books was at times confusing, this was downright dumb and mad no sense. The biggest book-moments were cut out, probably to make room for the bad CGI... I kind of expected it to be bad, 'cause the 2nd one wasn't that good either. It also seems the actors get less and less convincing with each movie. Contrary to the Hunger Games (that also differed from the books somewhat, but functional imho), these don't live up to the books at all. If you read them, don't watch the movies. If you've watched the movies but started liking them less and less, read the books instead! They're worth it!

• Inexplicably bad

  LiveYoLifeLikeYouMeanIt2016-06-19

  The first two installments in this series were if nothing else enjoyable. The first one, in fact, was well acted and directed, with a satisfying plot and held its own. The second which did have a wayward plot and a messy script was still salvaged by the acting and the cgi-fuelled set pieces which were cool to look at. But this movie fails in every possible aspect. Firstly, let's consider the acting, Shailene Woodley who was the most stellar aspect of the previous movies, is extremely dull and lacklustre. She seemed completely disinterested throughout the movie. The script didn't require her to do anything more than recite a handful of lines but she did engage the screen only periodically. Her character who is shown to be strong and defiant previously, turns into this mute easily-manipulated by stander who does very little in this installment. Theo James as Four, however, I felt performed decently well with what he was given, even if he still grumbles most of his lines. Jeff Daniels and Naomi Watts arguably manage to fit the bill of their generic and plain characters. The CGI, which has been a plus point of this series so far, is squandered in this one, with the surrounding green scene being glaringly visible in several scenes. From a visual concept and set piece point of view, something that Insurgent did manage to execute well, this one once again falls short. With the acting already poor, we do not even have some eye candy visuals to enjoy. Now, the plot. Convoluted and poorly unraveled. Nothing seems to make sense. Character motivations are inconsistent with previous installments and seem to change with the requirement of the script. Whatever exposition is provided is achingly plain and vague spurring endless questions about a variety of plot points, so much so that they threaten to put whatever sense the preceding movies made in much jeopardy. SPOILERS AHEAD- Here are some questions and oddities with the regard to both certain nagging minutia and also larger plot points which completely spoil the overall experience of the movie. The wall climbing scene early on in the movie, which while having been the best actions sequence, was still annoying. Tris is running from the wall to the generator which is powering the fence/wall, three vehicles full of men are shooting at her but their aim as required, is pathetic. Four, who unlike Tris, isn't even running, is also untouched. Soon after, atop the wall, the group decides to begin celebrating their victory prematurely with only Tori returning fire and staying rooted in the gravity of the moment, and as inevitable she gets shot and dies. Why? Why would these characters behave SO very oblivious to the danger at hand. Having been 'rescued' by the Bureau of Genetic Welfare, they're shown the poorly rendered video clip explaining 200 hundred years worth of history. So, genetic mutation in humans was introduced and people were divided on this and then they fought and destroyed most of the world? Some select pure individuals formed the Bureau and the rest died/or were placed in the Chicago experiment to gauge if they were 'curable'? For 200 years? They ran a massive experiment to find if a pure human was possible from among the 'damaged' individuals? From what I see, the life that the damaged lived inside the wall was a much more civilized and peaceful society until Tris wreaked havoc in the first movie, while outside the wall, people seem to be living in a wasteland. So I'm supposed to understand that the 'pure' people set up a massive civilized city for the 'damaged' while themselves living in a barren landscape fighting people at the fringe??? Even the Providence was a tiny area of fairly futuristic looking infrastructure. It is later revealed that David wants funding for his project. Funding? Funding for? For reinstating the factions by wiping the minds of the people of the city? But he did just that without having received funding from the providence, didn't he?? So was it funding for renovation of his own floating castle home at the Bureau? And back in Chicago, Joana sees that Evelyn is killing people that worked for Jeanine, so she, the Wise one, decides it is time to divide whatever people are left, in half and have them fight each other to the death?? And then that gas. That gas which is supposed to be inhaled but is so heavy that it harmlessly settles down at feet level, giving ample time for the warring people to run up a flight of stairs. Evelyn gets shot by Peter in the back/leg, but clearly doesn't seem to have any injury when shown from the back. Tris shooting the ventilation system through the wall absolutely the weakest resolution to the conflict. And magically, the gas recedes quickly and all those people who had previously been fighting each other to the death, come out of the buildings all smiles and happy, some even smiling and pointing at God knows what. So absurd. Overall a very disappointing and frustrating mess that reeks of ignorance on the part of the filmmakers who seem to have concluded that they can string up any random events in a dystopian setting amidst a bunch of teenagers aided by mediocre visual effects and some set pieces. Hopefully, with the change of director, the final movie will be better.

• Yet Another Clichéd and Predictable Young Adult Film

  ThomasDrufke2016-03-20

  The age of the young adult franchises are upon us now more than ever with yet another entry in the 'Divergent' series being released. Maybe it's just me, but I'm growing tired of weak films filled with same old clichés and unoriginal story lines based around the genre of 'young adult sci-fi'. Sure, a lot of people can say the same thing about the overabundance of superhero films, but there's a clear difference in quality. But the bottom line is that I'm just not the audience for these films. Allegiant directly follows the events from Insurgent after the demise of Kate Winslet's Jeanine character. Naomi Watts reprises her role as Evelyn and pretty much follows the same unfortunate path that Jeanine did as leader of the dystopian Chicago. Four and Tris, played by Shailene Woodley, lead a small group of survivors into the outside world which was teased at the end of the last film. From there, every cliché you can possibly think of, follows. The characters who you think will die, die. The people who you think will be good or bad, end up being good or bad. There is nothing surprising or noteworthy about the film's plot. The positives do however come from some of the performances. Theo James continues to be a pleasant surprise and does as much as he can with a weak script. He has a definite future in the film business. Woodley is solid as she usually is and so is Jeff Daniels and Naomi Watts. The problem is that the film around them is average at best. The pacing is painfully slow at times and nothing really happens until the final 20 minutes. Of course, it's set up for an unnecessary and unplanned 4th film purely for the reasons of making money, because there could have easily been an ending here. Overall, a weak script and horrible green screen moments end up making a disappointing third entry in the series. +Music +Performances from James and others -Green screen moments -Pacing -Nothing original and full of clichés 4.8/10