Young adult adventure franchises were big about a decade ago, and led by the Hunger Games, spawned several other stories with teenaged leads trying to survive in dystopian realities.

Truthfully, the Divergent film trilogy was one of my favorites, even though it’s film story is incomplete, and all three movies hit Paramount Plus this month.

But the Divergent Book Series on Amazon HERE

Shailene Woodley stars as Beatrice “Tris” Prior, a young woman preparing to be sorted into factions based on personality. Tris undergoes a test that reveals her to be Divergent, which the government believes is a threat to their standing. To stay undercover, Tris joins the brave Dauntless faction and begins to uncover the conspiracy by one of the factions to take over all of civilization.

The first film is the best of the trilogy, and they consistently slip a notch down as Insurgent is still a good film, but Allegiant slips into mediocrity.

And in one of the most infamous incomplete stories in the young adult adventure genre, we never get a conclusion.

There is some real star power in these movies. Kate Winslet, Naomi Watts, Jeff Daniels, Ashley Judd, and a young Zoe Kravitz are all featured well. The action is good and that Harry Potter flavor of being sorted into different groups and aligning with the beliefs of your favorite are all solid here.

But by the end of the third movie, we do lose a step. The trilogy as a whole is good. And a fourth movie may have lifted it back up. Woodley’s work is strong enough to have done it.

Unfortunately, we’ll never know. First there was going to be a TV movie. Then a TV franchise. But everyone moved on and lost interest. And the story remains in the orphanage until this day.

Still, it’s better than a lot of it’s peers. Better than the final two Hunger Games movies, and better than the most recent shot at reviving YA adventures, “Uglies”.

Give the movies a shot. You may enjoy them. Woodley still might win an Oscar one of these days.

Grade (2024):

Divergent: B
Insurgent: C+
Allegiant: C

What do you think of the Divergent film trilogy. Let me know in the comments.

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