'Insurgent' Review (with GIF's!)

Hello and welcome back blogosphere! Today, I thought I'd continue on with my movie reviews and give you all my opinion regarding the second instalment of the young adult, dystopian franchise 'Divergent'. Considering these big budget book-to-movie adaptations garner quite a bit of attention in the teen world, those of you who have not yet seen it must be dying to know if it lives up to your expectations. Was it any good? Did it pale in comparison to the last film? You'll just have to read on and see for yourself.

To alleviate the overwhelming anticipation you guys must be feeling, I may as well let you know now that I was genuinely impressed with 'Insurgent'. Movies that are designed to appeal to the masses I am often skeptical of, and this movie was no exception, however I'm pleased to say that I had nothing to be worried about. I was trepidatious before watching 'Divergent' for the first time around this time last year, however as you may recall, I was definitely pleasantly surprised. So luckily, despite my slightly heightened expectations, 'Insurgent' was certainly not a let down. In fact, it was a total triumph.

The movie begins where 'Divergent' left off, as some citizens are in upheaval following the war against Abnegation. As villainous Erudite leader Jeanine (Kate Winslet) is attempting to hunt down protagonist Tris Prior (Shailene Woodley) as a result of her containing traits from all five factions, making her 'Divergent', she becomes a fugitive who is on the run with her boyfriend Four (Theo James), her brother Caleb (Ansel Elgort) and 'frenemy' Peter (Miles Teller).

After being given permission to hide out in Amity by faction leader Johanna (Octavia Spencer), the four find it difficult not to draw attention to themselves.

Upon being hunted down by Jeanine's guards, namely former Dauntless leader Eric (Jai Courtney), they all decide to go separate ways. While Peter joins Jeanine's army, Tris, Four and Caleb come face to face with the factionless, who after some initial resistance, are taken to leader Evelyn (Naomi Watts), who is seen to be planning a counter-attack.

Meanwhile, Jeanine is back in Erudite, and is in possession of an ancient box said to contain data from the city's founders and the means to the end of the Divergent problem. In order to open it, she must get a Divergent who is strong enough to complete the simulated tests of all 5 factions, however, none of the test subjects so far have survived.

As a result, Jeanine instructs her guards to track down the perfect Divergent specimen and bring them back to Erudite for testing.

And that unfortunately is where I must stop my plot retelling for fear of revealing too many more spoilers. What's in the box? How does everything go down? You'll have to purchase a ticket and see for yourself.

As I hinted previously, I was super impressed with the second instalment of the Divergent series. As with any sequel, there's always a chance that it won't live up to the original film or meet everyone's heightened expectations, however luckily this was not the case with 'Insurgent'. I wouldn't be able to tell you which film was better, because I think I like them both equally, but for totally different reasons. The first movie was all about set-up and I found the premise to be really interesting, however this film I would say had a more sophisticated plot, while also managing to focus on some crucial character development. However, although I can't decide which film is superior, I can guarantee that you will not be disappointed with 'Insurgent' whether you are a fan of the series or not.

One of the major parts of a film for me understandably is the quality of acting, which thankfully in this film is super high overall. Considering the franchise contains two Academy Award winning actresses *cough* Kate Winslet and Octavia Spencer *cough*, you'd expect that their acting be of a high standard, however this applied to every member of the cast. As I mentioned in my review for the last film, Shailene manages to portray Tris excellently in a way that never manages to verge on annoying. In 'Insurgent' particularly, her character definitely did have the potential to come off as extremely irritating with all of her antics, however this is never even close to being the case.

Theo James was also able to demonstrate the development of his character super well, as Four, who was exceedingly stoic in the last film, began to act and emote like an ordinary human, which is always nice to see. Miles Teller, I have to say, is a brilliant Peter. I mean, he is the perfect choice to inject a bit of humour into any young adult dystopian franchise, and totally manages to give us a break from the seriousness of it all. Despite the fact that he is villainous more often than not, Peter really is the guy that you love to hate.

Without giving too much away, I think perhaps one of my favourite parts of the movie was being able to go through the simulated landscapes for each faction, something which we got a bit of a taste of in the last film. All the computer design and CGI stuff was really awesome, and managed to include scenes in which Tris had to fight with a simulated version of herself. Honestly, it totally reminded me of Lindsey Lohan in 'The Parent Trap'. It all got even more confusing when there were simulated realities within simulated realities, and I seriously got some 'Inception' vibes, however have no fear, because the confusion really just added to the intrigue, and was definitely short lived as things became clearer. Getting able to see a bit more about each faction was really great as well, especially considering that in the last film, we only really got an insight into the intricate workings of 'Dauntless'.

Overall, I guess what I'm trying to say is that 'Insurgent' is definitely worth checking out while it's still in cinemas. The plot is both interesting and engaging, the acting is spot on, and the film as a whole is definitely a winner. Of course it is made to appeal to a generic young adult market, however it doesn't feel overly commercialised or contrived, which is always a plus. If you're looking for an interesting, action packed film that manages to point out the flaws prevalent within our contextual society, I highly suggest you give 'Insurgent' a go.

Well that's about all that I have to say. I hope you enjoyed my review and that it helped you to decide whether or not to buy yourself a ticket (to which the answer should definitely be a yes). Feel free to go and live your lives after being granted access to the awesomeness contained within my opinions! Til' next time . . .

Annabel xx