Review – Allegiant

Allegiant is the third installment of the Divergent series following Divergent (2014) and Insurgent (2015).  And, much like most YA adaptations nowadays, the studios decided to split the final entry of the series into two movies.  So far, splitting the final chapter into two has not panned out so well.  Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows: Part I (2010) was boring but Deathly Hallows: Part II (2011) was extraordinary.  The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 (2014) and Part 2 (2015) both suffered from redundancy and lack of excitement that could have been solved by just making one Mockingjay movie.  My biggest issue with the splitting of the final book is that the first one always feels like a set up movie and never like an actual movie.  They are basically the first 45 minutes of movie dragged out into two plus hours and they waste all of our times.

Allegiant has done the best job of making its part one feel like an actual movie.  This didn’t feel like another set up movie, it felt like a legitimate part three to a series and it is one I really enjoyed.

After the events and revelations of Insurgent, Tris (Shailene Woodley), Four (Theo James), and others climb the wall and flee Chicago in fear of what the city is becoming.  On the outside, they discover it is a toxic wasteland and are met by the Bureau of Genetic Welfare, a group that for years has been trying to genetically make the perfect human and that Chicago has been one big experiment.  The head of the Bureau, David (Jeff Daniels), informs Tris that she is the perfect human, while everyone else is flawed in some way.  But Tris finds out that David is doing more harm than good and must bring Chicago together to bring him down.

One of the biggest surprises from Allegiant was the performances of Theo James as Four.  We know Shailene Woodley will be great, as will the acting heavyweights of Jeff Daniels, Naomi Watts, and Octavia Spencer.  But in the first two movies, James didn’t really have a lot to grab on to, and was a rather vague character.  In Allegiant, we get more Four, as he and Tris are separated because of his imperfections and he is the first to realize David is up to no good.  I’m not saying James gives an awards-worthy performance, but it was nice to see him show that he isn’t just another pretty face.

The action throughout is cool, with a lot of fatalities that add an emotional punch and grit to the film.  Some of the green-screen work is a little shotty, but is only noticeable in a couple shots.

Allegiant isn’t a perfect movie, but it is an entertaining one with some talking issues about classism and individuality.  But the best part about this movie is, as I said at the beginning, this Part I didn’t feel like a set up movie, unlike Deathly Hallows Part I and Mockingjay – Part I.  This felt like an actual movie that rose the stakes for a climax I am excited to see.

MY RATING – 3/4

Did you see Allegiant?  What did you think?  Comment below or hit me up in Twitter @kevflix or on Facebook at Kevflix.