Divergent, Part 1

Alright, so I saw Divergent for Cary Citizen tonight and I kind of really liked it. It's nowhere near as campy as Twilight nor as exciting and entertaining as The Hunger Games, but there was enough teen angst and pretty people to keep me involved in its much too long 140 minute running time. I don't feel like giving two reviews of the flick, but I really wanted to get a few thoughts out immediately about why I liked it. My full review, which will post Monday or Tuesday, will go into a bit more detail about the films many flaws. For now though, I'm drinking wine and I want nothing more than to admit how much Divergent gave me great satisfaction in pretending I'm not actually 27 years old, but any other age younger than that.


I have to bring up Twilight again. In short, I love Twilight. I love them all. As films I mean, because I can't read. This is who I am. I find them to be campy and wonderful, and New Moon is actually legitimately captivating in a way I can't really describe.

As I said before, Divergent isn't as campy as Twilight, but it isn't afraid to embrace what it is, which is silly young adult fodder. And that's fine! I like shit like that. I mean, it's pretty silly when during what is supposed to be a defining moment where our female protagonist is discovering who she is and where she fits in this dystopian world that an Elle Goulding song comes on just to make sure we know what she is feeling.

It's that use of pop songs as way of character development that really pushes Divergent over the edge for me. Where The Hunger Games attempts to actually carve out genuine characters and stakes, Divergent just wants to manipulate and entertain.

Ugh, I'm drunk and I don't feel like I'm getting my point across very well. I like that Divergent wants to keep things simple. I think Shailene Woodley is kind of wonderful and I had some sort of vendetta against Theo James, the film's main hunk, before I saw the film. Of course, he proved to be easy to watch and also physically capable in the action scenes.

For some reason I am drawn to these young adult adaptations. Maybe it's because of my refusal to grow up or maybe it's due to the fact that I'm some kind of piece of shit, but Divergent pulled me in despite it's flaws, and I'm excited to see if it tries go the serious route ala The Hunger Games or if it embraces the ludicrousness of its premise like Twilight.

Again, I'll have an actual, more sober review in a few days. But for now know this, I liked Divergent, and that's OK.