Insurgent 2015

Bill Zwecker, Chicago Sun-Times: While I enjoyed the first Divergent movie, I did find Insurgent to be a better cinematic romp. Read more

Wesley Morris, Grantland: I appreciate the attempt to try to make this world -- an obliterated, totalitarian Chicago -- as watchable as possible. But there's too much to keep straight. Read more

Lou Lumenick, New York Post: Practically everyone you're watching seems to be wishing they were somewhere else. So you might want to take the hint. Read more

Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine: With its repeat itinerary, Insurgent is less a sequel than a remake. The movie has an ordinary middle-chapter scenario, and less The Empire Strikes Back than Attack of the Clones. Read more

Peter Debruge, Variety: Perhaps instead of splitting the third book into two movies, they should have considered combining the first two into one. Read more

Jesse Hassenger, AV Club: Insurgent has more action than Divergent, but not much more excitement. Perhaps a more mercenary blockbuster mentality could have at least shaped that action into stronger set pieces. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: Luckily for "Insurgent," Shailene Woodley is on board for the duration. Read more

Tom Russo, Boston Globe: It's a sequel that sticks to more routine territory of action, angst, and dystopian gloom - mostly a sound approach, thanks to the consistent strength of franchise lead Shailene Woodley and a mix of intended and inadvertent surprises. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: [Woodley] spends much of the second [film] captured by the society's merciless overlord (Kate Winslet) and locked into a psychoactive contraption that subjects her to various traumatic hallucinations. Any movie critic can relate to that. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: The actors are more or less saving this franchise's bacon. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: The action sequences are well done, some of the visuals are spectacular, and at it's heart Insurgent is wrestling with some very basic questions about ambition and human interaction. Read more

Kevin P. Sullivan, Entertainment Weekly: Taken for what it is, Insurgent is a vast improvement over the franchise's first installment, mostly thanks to expansion in two arenas: budget and scope. Read more

Nancy Churnin, Dallas Morning News: Some fans may object to substantial plot alterations, but the rejiggering streamlines and intensifies the story as it powers to the same destination. Read more

Sheri Linden, Hollywood Reporter: Even with breathless chases, strong design components and dazzling effects, the story's organizing principle -- the faction system that divides society into five groups based on personality -- grows less compelling as Insurgent proceeds. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: A more effective, adult-friendly film than its predecessor. Read more

Amy Nicholson, L.A. Weekly: No one involved in the making of Insurgent would test positive for the intelligent Erudites Read more

Randy Myers, San Jose Mercury News: That's a lot of back story to wade through and at times the expository world-building weighs heavy here too. But in "Insurgent," twists and developments bulk up the story and help further define the characters. Read more

Connie Ogle, Miami Herald: Even if you're curious about it, the movie is often plodding and frequently nonsensical, with action that never feels novel or exciting. Read more

Rafer Guzman, Newsday: The cast still shines, but this mid-franchise movie is mostly spinning its wheels. Read more

Richard Brody, New Yorker: There's little substance and little depth, but Woodley, with her preternatural poise, offers a worthy simulation of drama. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: While the ending is meant to build up anticipation for the inevitable parts three and four, it plays as mostly resolved; you don't walk out of the theater thinking, I can't wait til the next one. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: Woodley, great in "The Spectacular Now" and "The Fault in Our Stars," is a humdrum action star. Her amiable yet laid-back style turns the film's key moments from do-or-die into OK-whatever. Read more

Manohla Dargis, New York Times: A modest cultural artifact if one largely devoid of aesthetic interest. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: Unlike Divergent, which required pages of premise-establishing exposition, Insurgent is more purely action-centric, as the hunters hunt and the hunted flee through the trees, hopping freight trains, trying to elude capture. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: Insurgent is far too long for the minimal plot it encapsulates, features little in the way of meaningful character development, and is riddled with instances of poorly conceived, contrived developments. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: Insurgent stubbornly fails to surge. Read more

Soren Anderson, Seattle Times: "Will someone please tell me what's going on?" Tris cries at one point, and she could be speaking for the audience as the plot becomes ever more muddled. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: "Insurgent" would be a much worse movie if the good parts were all at the beginning. But they are saved for the end, and they leave the viewer with a feeling of, "Well, that was OK," even though most of it wasn't. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Watch out Katniss, your competition is hard as nails. Read more

Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Were it not for the five lines of recognizably human dialogue spoken by Miles Teller, this whole thing would implode into a black hole. Read more

Jake Coyle, Associated Press: The final Divergent book will be split into two movies, a future that is indeed a little dystopian. Much brighter, though, are the blossoming careers of Woodley and Teller. Read more

Lenika Cruz, The Atlantic: In all, Insurgent may work as a deafening, frivolous diversion for viewers who can ignore the flimsiness of its universe, plot, and characters. Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: Most of the best stuff is saved for Insurgent's last half-hour, in which the movie goes "lysergic," as on an acid trip. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: Insurgent has more action than last year's debut film, which was modestly titled just Divergent. Action is what you want in a picture such as this, especially when you don't really have a lot on your mind. Read more

Alonso Duralde, TheWrap: Perks up a bit when vets like Winslet or Octavia Spencer or Naomi Watts pop up for a scene or two, but for the most part, this all plays out like yet another movie about pretty young people in futuristic sportswear punching or shooting each other. Read more

Cath Clarke, Time Out: The plot makes zero sense and Shailene Woodley's on-screen chemistry with scowling hunk Four (Theo James) is non-existent. Read more

Jim Slotek, Toronto Sun: It's impressive how the likes of Winslet, Spencer and Watts can spout their required gobbledygook and still maintain conviction. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: This second installment, based on Veronica Roth's series of YA novels, feels cobbled together and less focused than 2014's Divergent, and lacks tension and excitement. Read more

David Edelstein, New York Magazine/Vulture: Insurgent is not a very good movie, but it's better than it needs to be. Read more

Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post: Although Woodley is adequate at emoting - Tris being something of a basket case of guilt, self-loathing and teenage hormones - many of the other characters here are, by definition, one-dimensional. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: "Insurgent" opens new horizons of repetitiveness, dramatic shapelessness, self-seriousness and a generalized oppressiveness ... Read more