The popular book series by Veronica Roth stars leading character Shailene Woodley. “Divergent” tells the story of post- war lifestyle where Chicago is divided into five factions. The Erudite faction attempts to take over Abegnation, the group that holds the government roles. With this, they try to destroy the “divergent” (teens who don’t fit into any of the houses), finding them a threat to society. There is a test the teenagers must take that suggests their faction and a ceremony where they finally decide which faction to join. Niel Burger displayed “coming of age” where the child makes the decision to choose their future instead of the parents.
Some girls may recognize Shailene Woodley from “The Secret Life of an American Teenager” on ABC Family, where she plays a young, innocent high school girl who gets pregnant by an adopted boy who sleeps around. In “Divergent,” Shailene gets bold and puts a pretty impressing performance as a headstrong girl who doesn’t know which faction she belongs to. Her fighting scenes could have had more polish like any first time heroine. It was a bit embarrassing for her to throw a punch, even if she did knock someone out.

Now, some parts did seem similar to the “Hunger Games.” Both are in a future dystopian setting, have an opposing alliance, and have a revolution initiated by female leads. Yes, there is an attractive male co-star who ends up with Shailene’s character, but I guess we all expected that. You can’t have a female lead without having her prince be there when she falls, right? To say a woman can be a star without a knight in shining armor. Besides that, there was nothing leaving me at the end of my seat. Shailene’s character just drifts into the distance with her family not even leaving a hint for the second movie. What an ending. What can we expect for the sequel, “Insurgent”? Nothing, from what it looks like.