[yasr_overall_rating]
After the earth-shattering revelations of Insurgent, Tris must escape with Four beyond the wall that encircles Chicago to finally discover the shocking truth of what lies behind it.
“Divergent” and its sequel, “Insurgent,” were movies I thoroughly enjoyed. I wasn’t blown away by them but they made for enjoyable escapism for a few hours. With “Allegiant – Part 1,” the next installment in the blockbuster franchise, the producers have upped the ante, big time. At the end of “Insurgent,” the people of Chicago, who have lived their entire lives inside the city, surrounded by a large wall they have been told is for their own protection from the outside, feel an overwhelming sense of relief but also buoyancy, now that the tyrannical Jeanine (Kate Winslet) is dead. When Evelyn (Naomi Watts), the leader of the resistance, takes over, it quickly becomes apparent that her new regime appears to be just as bloodthirsty and ruthless as her predecessor.
Evelyn’s son Four (Theo James), and the city’s savior, Tris (Shailene Woodley), are determined to make it out of Chicago, to see what lies on the other side but when Evelyn puts the city in lockdown, Tris and Four, along with the help of some of their friends, manage to escape. Soon after, while being chased by Evelyn’s soldiers, they are saved by an army who claims they have been waiting for them, in particular, Tris, for some time and takes them back to their home base. Relieved and excited at the opportunity to begin a new life, things quickly go south when Four realizes that things are not as pleasant and civilized as they first perceived. When the city’s leader David (Jeff Daniels), claims that Tris, a Divergent, is pure and perfect, while everyone else is damaged, he urges her to allow his team to run tests on her so that he can duplicate the perfect elements of her DNA, with the intent of infusing them into others.
While initially willing to help any way she can, when Four discovers that David plans to attack Chicago with a nerve gas that has the capability of erasing everyone’s memories, with the sole intent of taking over the city, Tris and Four must leave their new sanctuary and head back to the one place they long sought to leave in the past, and try to save it and everybody within its walls.
Given that this film is a sci-fi/action hybrid, the cast do well overall in their respective roles and while Jeff Daniels manages to chew up and spit out every scene he is in, the star-crossed lovers of Tris and Theo are the film’s driving force and both Shailene Woodley and Theo James exude the necessary onscreen chemistry a film of this magnitude requires. “Allegiant” is by far the best of the “Divergent” series to date. Director Robert Schwentke successfully injects much-needed excitement, tension, and laughs required for this film and unlike “The Hunger Games” franchise, which went out with a whimper instead of a bang, here’s hoping that next year’s conclusion, “Ascendant,” will end satisfactorily and on a high note.
In theaters March 18th
