Whilst not having read the source novels, Divergent desire to be the next "Hunger Games" style franchise is evident in its dystopian setting, purportedly strong intelligent female characters ( they're not ! ) and sequel baiting in its resolution. What is disappointing is the lack of any originality to distinguish itself from other similar ideas - it's faction based society heavily influenced by films like Gattaca and others of that ilk. The film also spends an inordinate amount of time with one faction, and probably the least interesting one at that, devoting the bulk of its plot to the heroine being trained, and of course, falling for one of her trainers. You would think that the focus would be on the so-called Divergent group, given the title and the vague ominous warnings from several characters about their threat. Perhaps the sequels will develop this better, but here it is simply a plot device to touch base with typical themes of individuality, free will and teen angst over being pigeonholed, as well as provide a motivation for the villain's plot. That it rarely explores these within any great depth is the film's main problem, preferring to focus on the developing romance between the two leads. There are no surprises in the story, but the central leads do their best with the thin material and it is watchable enough.

Same old, same old. Visually nice but to little content for a 2 1/2 hour movie. Feels very similar to Hunger Games. A blown up story that maybe younger people can relate to more. If there will be a sequel I will skip it. Oh, and Kate Winslet was not very convincing as the villain.

Having not read the books, I can't really comment on the similarities/differences between the books and the films, so my comment will be purely based on the film. Overall I enjoyed this film, and I completely disagree with the comments/complaints that this series is just trying to be the next Hunger Games, it's very different in my opinion. I enjoyed the political undertones but only as an exaggeration of a bad system that the leaders always think is "best for the people". I have seen this before and could remember the big plot points but not the little things, so it was good to refresh my memory, but maybe the suspense was taken away by the prior knowledge. I would, as always, recommend watching this film. 7/10 24/03/2019

This one’s got big ambitions. I definitely enjoyed it when I first watched it, there’s a clear vibe, decent aesthetic, and some cool dystopian world-building. But the film just ends up doing too much at once and none of it particularly well. It’s packed with ideas, but everything kind of washes out because it’s spread so thin. The faction concept is interesting, but it never quite hits the emotional or philosophical depth it wants to. The plot is bloated, the characters are mid, and the romance and action are passable at best. It’s not bad, it’s just painfully average for how much potential it had. Good world, decent execution, forgettable in the end.

It was watchable but the pacing severely suffers. we aren't really introduced to the main conflict for the first half of the movie, and the clumsy exposition just weighs down what should be a straightforward story.