It’s fair to say that the movie market is flooded with young adult (YA) offerings at the moment.
The excellent Harry Potter films opened the door for others in the genre, with the likes of Twilight, The Hunger Games and The Maze Runner coming to the fore in more recent years.
Insurgent, the second of the four-part Divergent series, falls more on the Hunger Games side of the fence in terms of storyline.
You’ve got a young female lead in Tris (Shailene Woodley – The Fault in Our Stars), who is living in a dystopian setting and, despite seeming to be a pretty regular girl, holds the key to a brighter future.
I’ll not waste too much time reminding you of the original, 2014’s Divergent, other than to say that Insurgent follows on almost directly from the events of its finale.
I’ll level with you – I quite liked Divergent. It wasn’t the best or most original film ever created, but I enjoyed the world building. A fenced off Chicago housing five differing factions of the apparent remnants of the human race grabbed my attention – and the characters, for the most part, were pretty decent too.
As a sequel and, of course, a bridge to a two-part finale, Insurgent has everything you’d expect from the middle film of the series. That’s right, there are deaths of key characters, a few heel turns and a game-changing twist all bundled in here.
We find Tris, her boyfriend Four (Theo James – The Inbetweeners Movie) and her brother Caleb (Ansel Elgort – The Fault in Our Stars) on the run after being blamed for the dastardly deeds dished out by Erudite (the intelligence-based faction) leader Jeanine (Kate Winslet – Titanic) in the last movie.
Low on numbers, they are forced to turn to the Factionless for help.
To cut a long story short, Tris and her allies need to team up if they are to take on Jeanine and her power-hungry minions.
But they’re still being hunted by Dauntless (police/army style faction) villain Eric (Jai Courntey – A Good Day To Die Hard) – and things do come to a head.
Without wanting to give too much away, the highlight here are the returning virtual reality tests – which pit Tris against a host of mind-bending challenges.
Once again, Woodley and James are impressive in the two lead roles, while Winslet and Courtney are, as you’d expect, very strong villains.
For Woodley in particular, you’d imagine that her turn as Tris will open up plenty of doors across the genres.
Yes, Insurgent has plot-holes galore and is, at times, very clichéd. It’s not quite as good as the original either – but did keep me interested ahead of Allegiant: Part 1 and 2 in 2016 and 2017 respectively.
And, with the final Hunger Games movie out this year, the Divergent series does offer fans a solid alternative to get their YA fix.
Voice Verdict: 7/10
+ Virtual reality
+ Stong cast, led by the excellent Woodley
– Plotholes galore
Showtimes at West End Cinema, Boston (Thursday, March 27 to Friday, April 2)
EVENT CINEMA/LIVE EVENTS
HAMLET
7.45pm (Tues)
RISE AND FALL OF THE CITY OF MAHAGONNY
7.10pm (Weds)
FILMS SHOWING
**FAST & FURIOUS 6&7 DOUBLE BILL (12A)
9.30pm (Thurs)
**FAST & FURIOUS 7 (12A) Midnight (Thurs night)
**GET HARD (15)
4pm (not Weds), 4.10pm (Weds), 6.20pm (daily), 8.55pm (daily)
**CINDERELLA (U)
10am (not Fri), 12.15pm (not Fri), 2.45pm (daily), 5.15pm (Tues), 5.45pm (not Tues), 20.30pm (daily)
**SPONGEBOB: A SPONGE OUT OF WATER 3D (U)
12.40pm (not Fri), 4.45pm (daily)
**SPONGEBOB: A SPONGE OUT OF WATER 2D (U)
10am (not Fri), 2.15pm (daily), 6.40pm (daily)
GUNMAN (15)
8.40pm (daily)
INSURGENT 3D (12A)
3pm (daily), 5.40pm (not Wed), 8.20pm (daily)
INSURGENT 2D (12A)
Noon (not Fri/Sat)
HOME 3D (U)
10am (not Fri) 2.30pm (daily), 6.50pm (daily)
HOME 2D (U)
Noon (not Fri), 4.25pm (daily)
RUN ALL NIGHT (15)
8.45pm (Fri/Sat/Sun/Mon)
THE SECOND BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL (PG)
1.20pm (not Wed), 1.40pm (Wed)
BIG HERO 6 2D (PG)
10.30am (Not Fri/Weds)
KIDS’ CLUB
Sat to Thurs 10.30am – Night at the Museum 3 (PG)
SILVER SCREEN
Wed 11.30am – Gunman (15)
**denotes free list suspended
