tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4217427319662074458.post6459473128263210083..comments2024-03-27T15:16:57.305-05:00Comments on F This Movie!: Review: DivergentPatrick Bromleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00771837625286775607noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4217427319662074458.post-64256687383190100732015-12-18T14:02:23.708-06:002015-12-18T14:02:23.708-06:00judging by the way we can no longer say what we wa...judging by the way we can no longer say what we want, think what we would like, everyone MUST be equal, and the government needs to dictate everyones lives, your idea of the conservatives being the bad guys in this is WAY off. last I checked it is liberals who are behind every one of those things I listed lately...Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07079129963961360964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4217427319662074458.post-36643216161080096122014-08-13T16:34:34.821-05:002014-08-13T16:34:34.821-05:00I lasted just over 4 minutes before stopping this ...I lasted just over 4 minutes before stopping this movie. It was so soul-crushingly derivative I saved myself 2 hours of my life that I would otherwise have squandered on this chick-flick spruced up in generic scifi clothing. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4217427319662074458.post-23360238834082590802014-07-29T04:41:11.363-05:002014-07-29T04:41:11.363-05:00Watched Divergent a few days ago and had about the...Watched <i>Divergent</i> a few days ago and had about the same reaction as in Adam's review. A pretty bad film, overall. To be honest, I found myself getting annoyed at the godawful weapons used in it. It gave me the impression that this film should be more accurately classified as steampunk, rather than just science fiction in general. They looked like they came out of some fifties space opera (I'm totally making shit up, now). Theoretically, the film can't be set that far into the future. Surely, it would make more sense to just use the weapons humankind developed before the shitstorm went down.Chrishttps://twitter.com/C_W_Allennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4217427319662074458.post-13159821901366986482014-03-24T23:41:43.443-05:002014-03-24T23:41:43.443-05:00I did not see this movie. Comparing Divergent to t...I did not see this movie. Comparing Divergent to the Muppets, my weekend choice seemed obvious.<br /><br />In response to the Matrix thing, that movie sends some very mixed signals as to whether the people have flesh and blood bodies, or are AI. The film was cast with a lot of twins, as if the Matrix robot duders got lazy and copy+pasted some models, which leads me to believe that SOME people in the Matrix are digital projections of actual people, whilst some are just a part of the illusion. So I'd argue your analogy still stands.Kino Notabihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15852233217962741446noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4217427319662074458.post-57690014886000142212014-03-24T15:29:00.234-05:002014-03-24T15:29:00.234-05:00Yes, the peeps in the Matrix are flesh and blood, ...Yes, the peeps in the Matrix are flesh and blood, except for the programs running around that appear in the sequels, and the Agents. So when our protagonists kill people, they die for good. But the movie tries to sell it as a terrible life being in the Matrix, so what the heroes of the story grant is a better existence than slavery to the machine. I find it troubling to justify murder of supposed sinners or slaves to free them, but without their consent. This subtext could have been made text with a praying or meditation scene before plugging in, but thankfully that was left out.<br /><br />All the while the movie is entertaining with hyper-stylized action and other mysteries. A movie cleverly told.<br /><br />Wanted tries to play the Fate card, so there is no fault to be assigned but to the cosmos, or God. Modern folks are not on board with fate as a character in a story (myself included) so the progression of events does seem callous and unmotivated. A movie not so cleverly told!Eamonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12858013751647136780noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4217427319662074458.post-6375528126132277572014-03-24T15:18:42.179-05:002014-03-24T15:18:42.179-05:00Sorry, the analogy I was looking for was with the ...Sorry, the analogy I was looking for was with the Hunger Games, not Divergent. I haven't seen Divergent, so I cannot comment. How far does it extend though? From a character perspective, would you say Tris = Neo? Sounds a bit like it from the way she doesn't fit in and is just thrown into action that she does not understand. But then has to murder a bunch of peeps in a form of 'self defense' just like Neo. <br /><br />Also, just ANOTHER comparison would be nice. Yours is good (allegedly), but what about more?<br /><br />If you want to disagree with something, I would disagree that the love story is a YA influence. Every damn movie has a love story in it, but usually it is a heroic man with a boring girl he must protect. Sure, the romance in Twilight is especially terrible, but so is the romance in the Star Wars prequels, or Hard Target, or (again) Flash Gordon. None of these movies strike me as particularly YA, but mainstream movies.<br /><br />Too bad the political metaphor is so blunt. I rather enjoy my sci-fi to be far enough removed from today that the comparisons are just a little opaque. Although I liked Elysium, so go figure.Eamonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12858013751647136780noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4217427319662074458.post-58814812326605413282014-03-24T14:37:30.037-05:002014-03-24T14:37:30.037-05:00I'm going to stick up for myself here. My Matr...I'm going to stick up for myself here. My Matrix comparison is strong. I disagree. There is no need to come up with a better analogy. <br /><br />Even though we disagree, thank you for reading and commenting. <br /><br />Adam Riskehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01165600746796326821noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4217427319662074458.post-27199444325013082722014-03-24T14:33:11.750-05:002014-03-24T14:33:11.750-05:00I was always unclear if the security guards in ...I was always unclear if the security guards in 'the matrix' were truly ever people in the 'real world'. It's been a long time since I've seen the movie but were all of the avatars in the matrix supposed to have real flesh-and-blood counterparts?<br /><br />I completely understand where you're coming from with your discomfort over that scene though. I still like the movie but it's hard to overlook that. It was more pronounced for me in something like Wanted where tons of innocent people are just done away with because they are background to the story being told with no regard whatsoever.Adam Riskehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01165600746796326821noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4217427319662074458.post-1087787474208426022014-03-24T12:18:37.274-05:002014-03-24T12:18:37.274-05:00I do find the most interesting thing about these Y...I do find the most interesting thing about these YA movies is the direct gender swap occurring. What if the lead were a man (or boy)? You address it head on, and don't come to an answer, which is fine. Entertaining the question is enough. <br /><br />But I had the same thought with Hunger Games. I thought Catniss was a little boring, and Peeta pathetic. The Matrix doesn't work as a comparison here since both leads kick a lot of ass, but compare to Flash Gordon where the lead male there is boring and the chick is worthless and I'm not annoyed as much. Admittedly a terrible movie, but it's the only thing I could think of for some reason. Maybe a better comparison to this movie might be Indiana Jones where Harrison Ford is charismatic (like Woodley) but we don't necessarily want to see him murder 100's of folks. <br /><br />Can someone supply a better analogy than me? What's a movie that mirrors this with the gender roles reversed? There are so many, but my brain is not cooperating.Eamonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12858013751647136780noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4217427319662074458.post-52832047832288686292014-03-24T09:49:48.176-05:002014-03-24T09:49:48.176-05:00Interesting review, although I must confess I have...Interesting review, although I must confess I haven't seen the movie and probably won't. Your comparison to The Matrix reminds me of how troubling one of the action scenes in that movie is to me. When Neo and Trinity go into the building in the end there is a slow-motion scene where they take out every single security guard in the lobby. It's done in a very fetishized manner, and is clearly meant to be a "cool" sequence. What makes it uncomfortable is that these aren't evil minions, but rather everyday Joes just doing their jobs. They are in effect slaves. You mention that the heroes are shooting virtual reality avatars rather than people, but the film makes clear that dying in the matrix means dying in real life. The film does give the heroes a rationale for their actions, in that every human still connected to the matrix is another potential body for an agent to jump into. I suppose it bugs me for 2 reasons: the stylized "cool" technique, and the numb "cool" manner that Neo and Trinity adopt while they're massacring these guys by the bushel. I would find the scene much easier to take if there was some recognition in Neo and Trinity that they are in effect killing innocents, and some reluctance at having to do so.Steve K.https://www.blogger.com/profile/02141959251034133806noreply@blogger.com