Insurgent - directed by Robert Schwentke
Starring: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Kate Winslet, Miles Teller, Ansel Elgort, Jai Courtney, Octavia Spencer, Zoe Kravitz, Tony Goldwyn, Ashley Judd, Ray Stevenson, Naomi Watts, Maggie Q, Daniel Dae Kim, Mekhi Phifer
Running Time: 119 minutes
Rated: M - Small amount of blood but some dark stuff / mild profanity
We certainly aren't short of young adult fiction to movie adaptations these days.
In the scramble to produce the next hit franchise just about every book aimed at the teen market that sold more than a couple of thousand copies must have been snapped up by film studios based on how many have hit the screens in the last five years.
For every one that works there seem to be two or three that don't.
I enjoyed the first movie in this series.
"Divergent" did feel a little like a Hunger Games wannabe but was original enough in its own right and I found it pretty damned entertaining and surprisingly violent.
That isn't a criticism - if anything I think the first Hunger Games suffered for being a little too safe in that regard but the stakes in "Divergent" were just that little bit greater for its darkness and bullet riddled action.
With "Insurgent" everything gets ramped up a notch further still.
The action, the darkness and of course the visual effects and scale of everything.
We begin with a brief recap of sorts and then find that Beatrice ('Tris' to her friends) is having bad dreams.
She feels guilt for several deaths and has doubts about her place in the rapidly decaying society.
Jeanine (Kate Winslet) is still hunting down people classified as Divergents but finds a mysterious box that she is convinced can only be opened by one and which she is sure contains evidence to support her view of the world.
The idea that the future is divided into factions based on their characteristics is interesting and is at the core of both the action and the theme in these movies - particularly this one.
"Insurgent" may begin screaming 'Look at me - I am just as good as the Hunger Games movies' but it very quickly stamps its own personality on proceedings.
We have the same gloomy production design with crumbling buildings and military vehicles with heavily armed troops keeping the populace firmly under the control of the dictator of the day as Jennifer Lawrence's hit series but this film is otherwise very different.
I am loathe to say too much lest I spoil anything but there is a load of action, some major deaths and some really, really nicely done visual effects sequences.
Within ten minutes it had me won over.
With a cast with this many great actors in it you are going to short change a few and Maggie Q, Ray Stevenson and Octavia Spencer are definitely left wanting more screen time.
It's a nice problem to have and hopefully they will be utilised more in the next chapter.
But this is of course Woodley's flick and despite Miles Teller stealing many scenes (as usual) she does utterly rule the roost.
She proves equally adept at the emotional lifting as she is with a gun in her hand or in any of the gravity defying action scenes.
In fact she is so perfect as Tris that even the occasional truly awful line and a miraculously salon perfect haircut that we are asked to believe she produced herself with some rusty old scissors and a dirty mirror can't detract from her performance.
To be fair most of the real groaner dialogue is split amongst the cast fairly equally.
Even the great Kate Winslet can't totally save it from audience titters.
And I am certainly not going to complain too much that Woodley looks too pretty for a woman living in forests and crumbling ruins.
"Insurgent" is paced so well and introduces so many surprises and clever ideas that any minor niggles are basically just that- minor.
Director Schwentke has had a hit and miss run of late.
"Red" and "Flightplan" were hits but "The Time Traveler's Wife" and "R.I.P.D" were definitely not.
With "Insurgent" he is firmly in the realm of the former titles and this is likely to be his biggest hit to date.
I would argue that it is his best work as a director for sure.
In particular the handling of the visual effects during the actions scenes is slick and effective.
The scenes in which Tris takes on the Simulation challenges give him plenty of room to toss in gunplay, mass scenery destruction and in one startlingly good sequence an acrobatic rescue in surreal circumstances.
I liked this movie more than enough to forgive it its faults and holy hell does it fly by.
Clocking in at about an hour fifty without credits there is enough action, humour, intrigue and twists in this film to ensure that boredom isn't an option.
With one faction spouting sickening sayings like "Go with happiness" and another thanking people for their honesty by way of group chant I was worried that it was all going to turn into some sort of hippies saving the world affair but rest assured this is the real deal.
It is much darker than even "Divergent".
The fight scenes are rough and people die..... a lot of people.
We see a girl tossed off a train and under another, gun to the head executions, faces smashed against perspex and numerous people gunned down, slammed down or falling from heights.
It lends a far greater gravitas to the whole thing when the viewer is convinced that anyone could be killed.
There is the real sense that this series is building up to something pretty exciting and with an ending that manages to satisfy yet still leave enough unrevealed that the prospect of the next chapter is very welcome it is clearly heading the right way.
Very good indeed.
Oh, and Naomi Watts should sport brunette hair at all times.... stunning.
RATING: 78 / 100
CONCLUSION: Just what you want out of a sequel - bigger, badder and leaving us wanting more.
Running Time: 119 minutes
Rated: M - Small amount of blood but some dark stuff / mild profanity
We certainly aren't short of young adult fiction to movie adaptations these days.
In the scramble to produce the next hit franchise just about every book aimed at the teen market that sold more than a couple of thousand copies must have been snapped up by film studios based on how many have hit the screens in the last five years.
For every one that works there seem to be two or three that don't.
I enjoyed the first movie in this series.
"Divergent" did feel a little like a Hunger Games wannabe but was original enough in its own right and I found it pretty damned entertaining and surprisingly violent.
That isn't a criticism - if anything I think the first Hunger Games suffered for being a little too safe in that regard but the stakes in "Divergent" were just that little bit greater for its darkness and bullet riddled action.
With "Insurgent" everything gets ramped up a notch further still.
The action, the darkness and of course the visual effects and scale of everything.
 |
| A staggering array of top notch talent both seasoned and fresh fill out even the smallest roles |
She feels guilt for several deaths and has doubts about her place in the rapidly decaying society.
Jeanine (Kate Winslet) is still hunting down people classified as Divergents but finds a mysterious box that she is convinced can only be opened by one and which she is sure contains evidence to support her view of the world.
The idea that the future is divided into factions based on their characteristics is interesting and is at the core of both the action and the theme in these movies - particularly this one.
"Insurgent" may begin screaming 'Look at me - I am just as good as the Hunger Games movies' but it very quickly stamps its own personality on proceedings.
We have the same gloomy production design with crumbling buildings and military vehicles with heavily armed troops keeping the populace firmly under the control of the dictator of the day as Jennifer Lawrence's hit series but this film is otherwise very different.
I am loathe to say too much lest I spoil anything but there is a load of action, some major deaths and some really, really nicely done visual effects sequences.
Within ten minutes it had me won over.
 |
| Insurgent is packed to the gills with action and some pretty stunning and inventive visual FX sequences |
It's a nice problem to have and hopefully they will be utilised more in the next chapter.
But this is of course Woodley's flick and despite Miles Teller stealing many scenes (as usual) she does utterly rule the roost.
She proves equally adept at the emotional lifting as she is with a gun in her hand or in any of the gravity defying action scenes.
In fact she is so perfect as Tris that even the occasional truly awful line and a miraculously salon perfect haircut that we are asked to believe she produced herself with some rusty old scissors and a dirty mirror can't detract from her performance.
To be fair most of the real groaner dialogue is split amongst the cast fairly equally.
Even the great Kate Winslet can't totally save it from audience titters.
And I am certainly not going to complain too much that Woodley looks too pretty for a woman living in forests and crumbling ruins.
"Insurgent" is paced so well and introduces so many surprises and clever ideas that any minor niggles are basically just that- minor.
Director Schwentke has had a hit and miss run of late.
"Red" and "Flightplan" were hits but "The Time Traveler's Wife" and "R.I.P.D" were definitely not.
With "Insurgent" he is firmly in the realm of the former titles and this is likely to be his biggest hit to date.
I would argue that it is his best work as a director for sure.
In particular the handling of the visual effects during the actions scenes is slick and effective.
The scenes in which Tris takes on the Simulation challenges give him plenty of room to toss in gunplay, mass scenery destruction and in one startlingly good sequence an acrobatic rescue in surreal circumstances.
 |
| As good as the action and story are Shailene Woodley is the undisputed star of the show |
Clocking in at about an hour fifty without credits there is enough action, humour, intrigue and twists in this film to ensure that boredom isn't an option.
With one faction spouting sickening sayings like "Go with happiness" and another thanking people for their honesty by way of group chant I was worried that it was all going to turn into some sort of hippies saving the world affair but rest assured this is the real deal.
It is much darker than even "Divergent".
The fight scenes are rough and people die..... a lot of people.
We see a girl tossed off a train and under another, gun to the head executions, faces smashed against perspex and numerous people gunned down, slammed down or falling from heights.
It lends a far greater gravitas to the whole thing when the viewer is convinced that anyone could be killed.
There is the real sense that this series is building up to something pretty exciting and with an ending that manages to satisfy yet still leave enough unrevealed that the prospect of the next chapter is very welcome it is clearly heading the right way.
Very good indeed.
Oh, and Naomi Watts should sport brunette hair at all times.... stunning.
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