Insurgent (2015) Reviews

• Genuinely Terrible

  paintballisbasic2015-03-21

  I will preface this by saying that I have not read the books. I did see the first movie and actually enjoyed it. I usually watch movies such as this with a skeptic mind and the first one wasn't bad. This movie, however, was terrible. (Heavy spoilers roasting over an open fire to follow) I've heard that the movie deviates almost unforgivably from the book. If that's the case, I can't speak for the book but the movie script looks to have been written by a high-schooler, at best. The movie is riddled with clichés: Main character with a dark inner battle raging due to prior decisions made (boring!). People (and armies) showing up just at the perfect time (forgivable once, not around the 5th time). Bad guys who couldn't hit a target 20 feet in front of them while shooting an automatic weapon (man those guys suck). And the ultimate "faked death with poison/paralysis" scene (wow that whole scene was bad). Throughout the whole movie the main character (the annoying tom-boy girl), Tris, keeps being painted as "tough" and "deadly". She is neither of these. In fact, she is quite laughably the opposite. Could her personal trainers not put her through some weight-training classes? (Her hairstylist was definitely present as her hair looked like she just stepped out of a Hollywood salon right after the scene where she cut her OWN hair with a pair of rusty scissors....) It looks like she couldn't even do 10 push ups yet she was fighting people and saving people falling over ledges with ease. But she looks like a huge wuss! Her little girly grunts and squeals she made when fighting or doing "action" made me bust out laughing. And the scene where she breaks through the glass is meant to be bad-ass and instead just left me hoping she would bounce off the glass and fall flat on her back (man, I wanted to laugh so bad). And probably the most unforgivable part of this whole movie was how POINTLESS everything was. Examples: They fight the faction-less on the train, killing several and doing serious damage to many more (not really sure how because Tris fights like a sissy girl). Then the main character, Four, says his own name and the leader of the vagabonds through bloodied teeth is like, "Oh we cool bro. Never mind you just head-butted me in the face and killed my friends." (the Hell??) (Oh and Tris's brother is a huge pussy). They continue to fight hard and kill people to narrowly escape the perfectly- uniformed drone guards of the "capital" so that they can go in to hiding. Then the main character just gives herself up. I think it was because the villain was threatening to kill innocent people with her mind control devices (never seen that before), but it doesn't really matter. Then she's given the chance to escape by her double- double crossing 'friend' (didn't see that coming) and yet she chooses to stay to open the mystery divergent box. Well what was the point of anything if you wanted to open it anyway??! I was DYING to contain my frustration. (also, how does the evil capital lady have this perfectly built divergent-box-opening proprietary chamber system, complete with bulletproof glass and mystery-box holding pedestal, just already set up? Does no one question this stuff???) And to top it all off, the super-secret, must-be-preserved-at-all- costs message in the box, (the ENTIRE point of the movie): "Divergents are cool, don't ostracize them. Oh, and the rest of humanity is living outside the wall. Cheers." What? No one has bothered to check this whole time?????? Gag. Enough roasting. To conclude, lots of movies, even good ones, have clichés and information that you are just supposed to assume. But this movie was genuinely terrible. Maybe all the people reviewing this with an 7/10+ saw a different movie than I did.

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• Dull and Forgettable

  matthewssilverhammer2015-03-27

  The word "insurgent" means to actively revolt, implying some distinctiveness that sets its participants apart from the norm. Ironically, the film Insurgent, a faded photocopy of other teen- scifi-dramas, doesn't have a single unique bone in its body. Not that it's aggressively terrible. There are some decent scifi elements and even a couple of mildly intriguing moments. But like clockwork, every slight turn for the better is quickly overwhelmed by extreme boredom. Like a forgettable SyFy channel series masquerading as a blockbuster film, Insurgent is simply a dull and uninteresting sequel. That word "sequel" should connote a progression of sorts, but no. As little as I remember about the previous entry in the Divergent Series, I can tell you this: shaky cam action scenes, bloviating about "special ones", and constant fighting for the McGuffin-of-the- week were the focus and are still in full form here. At the center is Woodley, an actress with a whole heckuva lot of talent that simply doesn't have the presence of strength to carry this sort of role. She presents a microcosm problem for an entire film full of great actors terribly miscast. Teller and Elgort manage some natural charisma and charm from their otherwise absent characters, Watts and Spencer are all but completely missing, and Winslet is just plain wasted. It's none of their fault; they just can't make the embarrassingly constant melodrama palatable. Even if it was laughably bad there might be something to cling to, but it's not bold enough to even warrant that reaction. Insurgent only serves as a lame, achingly dull placeholder until the next Hunger Games installment.

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• Bad enough to make one doubt IMDb ratings forever

  siderite2015-05-14

  Divergent was not brilliant, but it was your average young adult movie. Insurgent is way below that. It is so bad that I wanted to leave the theater and read my book. But anyway, let's talk about the movie. In the first film Tris learns she is special, in the second she learns she is *very* special, but just if her boyfriend lets her do anything. Seriously, I actually had to ask my wife if girls like guys like him or is it just the submissive fantasy of the author. Apparently, a lot of girls like overbearing assholes who think they know what is better for you. And guess who makes her appearance in the sequel? The mother in law! Bottom line: the sci-fi aspect of the film was marginal, the characters clichéd to the point of monomolecular cardboard and the basic story was learning to accept yourself as your boyfriend tells you what to do while he deals with his mommy issues. I am not kidding: the most sympathetic character in Insurgent was Peter, the asshole who always insults and betrays everybody. P.S. The Erudite test was remembering something that had happened to you two nights ago? Really? That's what makes you smart?

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• Messy Plot and Underutilized Great Actors

  prospectus_capricornium2015-03-18

  'INSURGENT' picks up shortly after the events in 'Divergent' with obvious intentions to maintain, if not, speed up the momentum of the franchise. There's no doubt how fascinating the 'Divergent' universe is, and while it shares almost the same elements that made many of the YA franchises today, successful, the movie has its own unique facets to separate itself apart. Unfortunately in Insurgent, those elements aren't effectively explored and utilized. Once again, movie makers fall prey to this mentality or should I say practice, that seems to highlight the film's visual panache, but dismisses the utmost importance of effective storytelling. I think I've gone redundant here, but to be honest, Insurgent is no different, and if you'd allow me to make this honesty, even brutal, this Divergent sequel tracks a deteriorating trajectory, and you can imagine how the franchise is set to get even worse, knowing the last book of the trilogy is going to be split into two movies. This doesn't surprise me at all, given the fact how film makers has been consistently regarding these popular franchises as merely cash cows. In Insurgent, the plot thickens, and not just that, it branches out to several sub ones. That's when the film begins losing its grip around the central story, giving way to subplots that don't make sense at all, if not barely. As she searches for allies, crossing one faction's territony to another's, our titular heroine, Tris, finds herself in a cat-and-mouse chase with the enemy, in this case, Jeanine (Kate Winslet)—a name that Veronically Roth seems to suggest to be perfect for a character she molds as a super-villainess that embodies terror (am I being sarcastic? of course I....am. Lol..)—and her loyal erudite followers. Tris maintains reluctance, but when Jeanine turns toward her loved ones, our heroine succumbs and surrenders herself to the enemy. (this is so new). INSURGENT draws in more actors on its payroll to play new characters, but barely utilizes them up to their full capacity. In the end, it's Shailene Woodley that mostly does her job as the central character. On the film's key moments, she undoubtedly shines, only her efforts aren't enough to place the movie's charm to the same level as hers. No thanks to the chemistry the film seems to suggest Four and Tris have, because I don't think I felt it—it was missing. The action sequences are well played, I must say, and the visual effects borders extravagance, but against a weak and unfocused narrative, INSURGENT is a film you better just wait to come out on DVD, instead, and not one to waste time and money on. (not unless you're planning to critique it the same I do)

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• Terribly Disappointing

  michaeldfishel2015-05-19

  Loved the first Divergent movie. Then read all the books and thought Neil Burger did a great job turning the first book into an accurate and entertaining film. I was so sad to know he was not directing Insurgent. And after seeing Insurgent, that sadness was justified. Robert Schawkle or whatever his name is did an awful job making the 2nd book into a movie. The 2nd book was lamer than the first, but it had a much easier plot to deal with. This movie strayed so far from the story in the book, title should be Insurgent Undone. They even had a bigger budget for this film, yet made it shorter in length, cramming scenes in with minimal creativity and almost zero character development. Almost everything that occurs is not true to the narrative in the book. Johanna appears to have no scars on her face and she's fat, wtf. The entire villain of Jeanine is tarnished by a completely different take on her motives. Book readers of this story should not watch the film nor appreciate its utter suckiness. Did the director even glance at the book? Did Veronica Roth really approve this movie? I am appalled?

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