It’s time to go beyond the wall.
Allegiant, the third installment in the Divergent film franchise, came out March 18th. Based on the first half of the concluding novel to Veronica Roth’s mega bestselling YA dystopian trilogy, it follows Tris (Shailene Woodley, The Fault in Our Stars) and Four (Theo James, Downton Abbey) as they leave their isolated, dystopian Chicago behind in order to explore the world beyond. However, conspiracies and secrets abound and it’s not long before they and their friends realize that leaving the relative safety of Chicago might have been a terrible mistake.
Directed again by Robert Schwentke–who first helmed the lackluster sophomore installment of the series, Insurgent—Allegiant will likely either make or break the film franchise. Insurgent saw an extreme shift in tone and quality away from the original film, and Allegiant the novel is by far the weakest of Roth’s trilogy. Allegiant the film will have to find a way to overcome both of these obstacles if the franchise wants any chance of redeeming itself in its fourth and final film (next summer’s Ascendant), based on the second half of the same novel.
Reviews of Allegiant so far have not been stellar. With phrases flying around like “unintentionally silly” (Ariana Bacle, Entertainment Weekly) and “egregiously padded piffle” (Peter Travers, Rolling Stone), it’s difficult to be hopeful for this film. Still, as a longtime fan of Roth’s books, I am.
After all, Divergent has never been about deep messages or complex character development. The books thrive instead on their fast pace, fun action, and snarky banter. And with all of that in mind, I’ve got my fingers crossed that Schwentke, Woodley, James, & co. might just pull this thing off. (And even if they don’t, well–this should at least be entertaining.)
Allegiant is in theaters now. Tickets are available for showings at both Goodrich Quality 16 and Ann Arbor 20 (Rave).
