Divergent 2014

Wesley Morris, Grantland: The climactic chases, shootouts, and fistfights have been staged, filmed, and edited with insobriety. Visual clarity shouldn't be too much to ask from these movies, even if they fail to achieve ideological coherence. Read more

Lou Lumenick, New York Post: Two sequels derived from Veronica Roth's novels have already been announced. Hopefully, they'll have more personality than this clunker. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: In all candor, and with all the amity I can muster, "Divergent" is as dauntingly dumb as it is dauntingly long. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: Without [Woodley], "Divergent" would be a grim slog indeed. Read more

Mike Ryan, TIME Magazine: It's impossible to ignore the overwhelming sense that we've seen all this before, only with better execution ... Read more

Andrew Barker, Variety: Even though it stretches to nearly two-and-a-half hours and concludes with an extended gun battle, by the time "Divergent" ends, it still seems to be in the process of clearing its throat. Read more

Kevin McFarland, AV Club: The significance of certain deaths hangs entirely on Woodley's performance. She's mostly up to the task ... Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: "Divergent" is a big, clunky slog of a movie, desperate to cash in as a successor to "The Hunger Games" as a franchise but never really proving up to the task. Read more

Jocelyn Noveck, Associated Press: By the end, you may want to hop onto one of those trains yourself and hope it arrives somewhere a lot less grim. But two sequels await. So there's always hope. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: "Divergent" is almost good enough to make you forget what a cynical exercise it is on every possible level. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: It's all pretty dumb, and it marks a career low for director Neil Burger, who's made some first-class indie dramas from his own scripts. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: The movie version of Divergent is no divergent. It goes along to get along. It's tame, formulaic and strictly by the book in every sense. Read more

Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News: Hey, we gotta kill time between Hunger Games installments somehow. Why not Divergent? Read more

Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: Directed by Neil Burger, Divergent is a solidly engaging outing. Only one wishes for more. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: Fans of the book will likely be pleased. More importantly, people who don't know a thing about the books may get swept up, as well. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: Woodley, at every turn, lets us feel as if we're in her shoes, not so much Dauntless as thrillingly daunted. Read more

Sheri Linden, Hollywood Reporter: Even with star Shailene Woodley delivering the requisite toughness and magnetism, the clunky result is almost unrelentingly grim. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: Though its main appeal will be to those who read the book and are young adults either in fact or in spirit, "Divergent" does have something for the rest of us and that's the chance to see the pair of performers who make that romantic music together. Read more

Amy Nicholson, L.A. Weekly: I beg of you, teenage girls who may yet make Divergent a box office hit. We can't avoid the future - dystopian or not - but we can at least prevent regrettable fad tattoos. Read more

Randy Myers, San Jose Mercury News: For a film about a defiant young heroine discovering she's a renegade nonconformist at heart, "Divergent" sure colors within the lines of the young-adult dystopian literature's playbook. Read more

Rafer Guzman, Newsday: Somewhat silly and teen to the extreme, but Woodley and James are surprisingly strong. It's up to them to keep this hopeful franchise alive. Read more

Bruce Diones, New Yorker: Barely diverting. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: The real problem with "Divergent"? In the end, it doesn't dare diverge enough. Read more

Mark Jenkins, NPR: Burger, whose last divergent character was the smart-drugged protagonist of Limitless, allocates more than enough of this overlong movie to details of life and society in future-Chicagoland. But he fails to make any aspect of the premise persuasive. Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: Unimaginative and bland. Read more

Manohla Dargis, New York Times: It's hard not to root for Ms. Woodley, who has been coming on strong in recent indie titles like "The Descendants" and "The Spectacular Now," but she seems palpably uncomfortable here. Read more

Michael Sragow, Orange County Register: Jackhammer music and sound design are all that hold the action scenes together. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: With a couple of elaborate action set pieces and some trippy, dreamlike sequences when Tris' thoughts are on display, Divergent is sure-footed, suspenseful, and sequel-ready. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: Although not quite as well-focused as The Hunger Games, Divergent employs many of the same elements: a futuristic post-war setting, a strong heroine, a romance, and a struggle against the oppression inherent in the status quo. Read more

Christy Lemire, RogerEbert.com: The performances -- namely from stars Shailene Woodley and Theo James and Kate Winslet in a juicy supporting role -- always make the movie watchable and often quite engaging. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: ...The faithful but dramatically flat film version of Divergent, from Veronica Roth's 2011 bestseller, couldn't stir palpitations in shut-ins. It's that bland and lifeless. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: It takes about 10 minutes to figure out that "Divergent" will not present a serious or intelligent vision of the future. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: A movie like this doesn't require a lot of tonal variety to succeed, but imagination is crucial. Read more

Gail Pennington, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Is the premise of "Divergent" both overly familiar and borderline ridiculous? Sure, maybe. But channel the 13-year-old girl in you and enjoy. Read more

Bill Zwecker, Chicago Sun-Times: Overall I was delighted with Divergent and am eager to see how the remaining two films continue to take us on Tris' adventure, as she and Four attempt to learn what's really going on in their very crazy world. Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: The dark, oppressive movie around Woodley drags her down like an overcoat with stones in the pockets. Read more

Linda Barnard, Toronto Star: Woodley is an obviously talented actress, a standout in The Descendants and The Spectacular Now but she's let down by the story surrounding her. Read more

Alonso Duralde, TheWrap: Jolts around in fits and starts, never sufficiently explains its premise and, yes, rips off far too many notions from better books and movies to stride successfully down its own path. Read more

Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out: The first film adapted from Veronica Roth's generically dystopian book series arrives with a sludgy, gray-hued plop. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: Ironically for a film about non-conformity, it adheres to the playbook rather slavishly. Read more

David Edelstein, New York Magazine/Vulture: If you can forget what it's saying, Divergent is fairly entertaining. Read more

Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post: It's rare that a movie is as good as the book on which it's based. It's even more unusual when it's better. Read more