After the disaster of Insurgent I was really hoping that The Divergent Series would come to a close, but instead of wrapping up the franchise they decided to make 2 more films. The first of the 2-part finale is an utter disaster from beginning to end.
It’s very rare to see a film with so few positive attributes -normally there is at least one stand-out element. Even the worst films generally have something going for them. This is not the case for Allegiant.
The acting was some of the worst I’ve ever seen. Shailene Woodley was so utterly dull throughout the whole film it was painful to watch. Theo James has about as much expression as a plank of wood and I’m sure he was just struggling to remember his lines. Jeff Daniels was just horrible star casting. After the success of the star filled Hunger Games franchise Divergent has packed the films with stars and Daniels just didn’t fit in.
Miles Teller was one of the strongest members of the cast and his performance was at least believable. Naomi Watts and Octavia Spencer are both talented actresses, who really don’t belong in this film - but their scenes are some of the strongest in the film.
The CGI is terrible, the script is so predictable that I made fairly accurate guesses as to what the next line was. I can’t believe that there’s actually going to be another film. The whole film progressed the overall arc so little that you could’ve easily condensed this and its sequel into one film.
Overall, it’s easy to see why the budget of the next film was cut and why it made so little money in the US. This is definitely one to miss when it’s released in cinemas next week.
.5 of a Star
Review by Benjamin Maio Mackay
Screening courtesy of eOne Entertainment
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