A hunger to be divergent

Divergent (M)
Starring: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Jai Courtney
AND the question on everyone’s lips is: is this one more on the Twilight end of the spectrum of teenage girl fodder, or closer to The Hunger Games?
I’m relieved to report it falls closer to the latter, but there’s still a powerful sense that this movie was made with girly teens in mind.
Set after the end of the world in post-apocalyptic Chicago, the city has been divided into factions in an attempt to prevent another war.
(How splitting people into factions stops war beats me, but I guess if I was a teenage girl, I’d understand. Plus, the boys are dreamy… )
Anyhow, the factions have different functions – the Erudite are scientists, the Dauntless are the cops and soldiers – you get the picture.
After personality testing, youngsters choose their faction in a public ceremony.
(I know – the testing and then choosing makes no sense to me either, but then I’m not a teenage girl).
Enter our heroine Tris (Shailene Woodley), who has more than a hint of the Catniss Everdeens about her.
Her tests show her to be a dreaded ‘Divergent’ – a mixed personality type much feared by the government for their randomness.
(I’m a teenage girl… I’m special… why won’t you let me be me… plus, that boy’s dreamy).
From here, it’s hello to the brooding beefcake and we’re off on a little teen adventure in which the heroine must paint by the numbers to save the day.
(He was aloof, strong and distant… how could she tame him and make him hers?)
In truth, it’s a passable entertainment that rips off the Hunger Games franchise to a fair old degree, but still rises above the Twilight level.
– Jason Beck