Director: Robert Schwentke
Writers: Brian Duffield, Akiva Goldsman, Mark Bomback (based on the novel by Veronica Noth)
Whereas The Hunger Games film series took two sequels to get to its own Empire Strikes Back, this technically "middle chapter" of the dystopian* YA fiction with an oh-so subtle allegory about not fitting in is both darker and danker than the predecessor, opening with its own "Battle of Hoth" (or rather, Amity) which sees our heroes-in-hiding. Meanwhile, arch-villainess Jeanine (Kate Winslet, one of whose earliest roles was as an SF heroine in the BBC serial Dark Season) is on a Vader-like hunt that sees Divergent experiment subjects (or at least one onscreen) die like force-throttled Imperial officers while occasionally, the score audibly honks with portent. The film's climax event even takes places within shiny white corridors and there is a game-changing (but not particularly earth-shattering in this instance) revelation. But while the honking might be comparable to an ocean liner (cf. Mark Kermode's review of Shutter Island), it's not an disaster that awaits our heroes (there is neither an iceberg nor any loss of limbs or parental plot twists), but rather the audience as the film's ethics walk off a ledge. This is a film in which our "heroine" wants to kill the villain (wow, great role model) but then later says the killing has to stop - all the while fisticuffs are traded, noses are bloodied, people are shot, and bodies are thrown off trains (remember the gag on Family Guy about Brian supporting the death penalty to show that killing is wrong?). There are two occasions in which those whose side we are supposedly on shoot unarmed enemy prisoners at point-blank range. The end credits trade in Ellie Goulding for a song entitled "Blood Hands" - at least ending on "Starry Eyed" would have been funny.
*a dystopia where fugitives can still apply eyeliner and hair bleach. Plus, Tris' haircut doesn't help any digs that this is essentially Hunger Games-lite by evoking Jennifer Lawrence's pixie do.
There is some visually interesting images, aided by the 90% useless "converted 3D", in which simulated buildings crumble apart but the panning shots are a blur (and it fails to bring any dimension whatsoever to Theo James' Four). The virtual reality dreams from the first instalment play a bigger role here, with post-Matrix (you die in the game, you die for real), post-Inception (crumbling buildings and a surreal-twist on a realistic environment with a flying building replacing Inception's folding Paris) video game sequences that Tris has to play through (foreshadowed by real dreams). There is even a Trial Of A Time Lord-ish concept on going into a virtual reality to combat the incarnation of your dark side, mixed with other Doctor Who "dream" story in which his self-hatred is made manifest in Amy Choice. At least the games Katniss faced took place in the "real" world. About two set pieces are undermined by a retro-spoilerific trailer and viewers can play a game of "guess if it's a dream or not" and score points in almost all cases. This is also a film which seems to champion brains over brawn - the erudite (i.e. learned) Caleb is useless in the battlefield, comic relief and ultimately a [spoiler removed]. He's also one of the best-dressed characters. Whereas Empire taught its protagonist that violence isn't fun and ended on a cliffhanger and its protagonist mutilated, this film is seemingly optimistic in its conclusion and quite a right place to end the story, despite our heroes having blood on their hands and the film having arsewipe on its morals. Still, at least after an innocent person is mind-controlled into suicide, our very sad protagonist gets to shag her bland boyfriend. Every cloud, eh?
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