Divergent (2014)

Divergent

IMDB rate: 6,9

Genre: Adventure

Starring: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Ashley Judd, Kate Winslet  

Ever since the first Hunger Games movie was released there arose a new trend of movie type: The young adults in a broken world type. All coming from young adult books, and all coming in quadrilogy's (I'm not even sure it's the right word). The four part series are the new hype, three movies aren't good enough anymore. The strange thing about this is, all the books are trilogies. Ever since the last Harry Potter movie it became a thing to split the last book in two parts, even though the book is just as thick as previous books (the Hobbit exaggerated this even more by making a trilogy from one thin book). While it seems like an odd thing to do, I don't necessarily mind since I pretty much LOVE these type of movies. I'm a big fan of the Hunger Games, read all the books but still need to see Mockingjay part 1. I've seen The Maze Runner which was equally amazing, and now I watched the movie Divergent. 

I love post-apocalyptic movies, and these type of movies are somewhat post-apocalyptic in an interesting way, each in their own sort of way. At first I did not know what Divergent was about, I knew there was a big hype about it but for some reason I thought it would be something like Twilight. Not really sure how I came to that thought, but I was definitely wrong about that. Ever since I watched Divergent two weeks ago, I couldn't help but watch it again this week. I wouldn't say it was the best movie I've ever seen and I certainly don't think it's better than The Hunger Games, but it's definitely intriguing and an amazingly interesting concept. 

Here's what Divergent is about:

Set in a futuristic dystopia where society is divided into five factions that each represent a different virtue, teenagers have to decide if they want to stay in their faction or switch to another - for the rest of their lives. Tris Prior makes a choice that surprises everyone. Then Tris and her fellow faction-members have to live through a highly competitive initiation process to live out the choice they have made. They must undergo extreme physical and intense psychological tests, that transform them all. But Tris has a secret that she is Divergent, which means she doesn't fit into any one group. If anyone knew, it would mean a certain death. As she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly peaceful society, this secret might help her save the people she loves... or it might destroy her.

Overall, Divergent isn't much appreciated by film critics, and I admit that there are many things wrong with it, but I'm just a real big fan of how people, and in these types of movies the government, react in a broken world (dystopia). In The Hunger Games there are the districts, who eventually will stand up against the government (the Capitol). In the Maze Runner it's somewhat more simple because it's just about a bunch of boys being surrounded by a maze. But in the end of that movie you see that it's in a broken world as well, which we probably learn more about in the next movie (or just read the book). In Divergent there's 5 different factions, all with their own specialty, and of course, in the end it's about rebelling against the controlling government. It's an interesting and refreshing take on how people react towards different situations. 

I think the acting is pretty good in this movie, never seen Shailene Woodley before but I think she acted pretty good in this movie. Very cool character as well, love how she grew till that badass girl. Also loved the chemistry between her and actor Theo James. Great couple. It was also cool how Kate Winslet played the bad guy in this movie, suits her well. 

Perhaps the story is a bit silly, but if you look past that it's a pretty cool movie with lots of great action and touching drama. I really enjoyed the movie, I don't really get why most people have so many problems with it. Something what was also notable was the music, normally I'm absolutely not a fan of the type of music that Junkie XL (he's Dutch as well by the way) makes, but it fitted the movie perfectly. If you're a fan of movies such as The Hunger Games and The Maze Runner I certainly would give Divergent a chance. I definitely had fun watching it! 

Oh, and sorry for the non-horror related review :).

My rate: 7/10

The Maze Runner (2014)

The Maze Runner

IMDB rate: 7,4

Genre: Adventure, Post-Apocalyptic

Starring: Dylan O'Brien, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Will Poulter, Kaya Scodelario

This time not a horror review, but a review about a movie I saw in the cinema recently, The Maze Runner. I actually had no idea what this movie was about, I took a quick glimpse at the IMDB page but decided not to watch the trailer since often the trailer spoils everything awesome. I actually haven't read the book yet, but I'm definitely planning to, this mainly because I hope it clears up some confusing parts of the movie. At the moment there are 5 books, so I'm expecting that there will be just as many movies. I'm pretty interested in reading those books actually, since the movie was pretty interesting as well.

Here's what it's about:

Thomas wakes up in an elevator, remembering nothing but his own name. He emerges into a world of about 60 teen boys who have learned to survive in a completely enclosed environment, subsisting on their own agriculture and supplies. A new boy arrives every 30 days. The original group has been in "The Glade" for two years, trying to find a way to escape through the Maze that surrounds their living space. They have begun to give up hope. Then a comatose girl arrives with a strange note, and their world begins to change. There are some great, fast-paced action scenes, particularly those involving the nightmarish Grievers who plague the boys.

I thought it was a nice movie, I really enjoyed watching it even though there are quite a few flaws. First of all, the boys say they've been there for 2-3 years, but if only one boy arrives at The Glade once every 30 days, it would mean there are 38 boys tops. Since a lot of them died according to them, it would mean there should be even less people. Also, when Thomas walked into the maze, why not just wait at the gate? Even when that part of the maze would change, they could run away to the end of the path I would think. Instead they just walked around the entire night with the possible danger of encountering a Griever. 

These things are pretty questionable but I was able to not look into it too much, simply because I quite enjoyed the movie itself. The Glade itself is a pretty impressive looking place with big gray walls surrounding a green field, the maze itself is even more amazing looking because you can almost feel the closeness of it. The effects are made incredibly well and the action is quite good. The Grievers look awesome as fuck, making those maze scenes even more amazing. 

The cast young but excellent. Dylan O'Brien plays Thomas, and I was quite impressed with his acting. I knew that Dylan O'Brien plays in that werewolf show Teen Wolf, but I always thought it would be a terrible show so I never payed any attention to it. Because of my assumption I figured he wouldn't be the greatest actor either, but he was quite good. Side note: pretty attractive as well :). Thomas Brodie-Sangster plays a smaller role, but nevertheless quite amazing. I have never seen Love Actually, but I have seen him in Game of Thrones where he's amazing as well. I can go on forever, but the cast is pretty solid. It's young and more impressive than I expected them to be.

The thing that bothered me most was the ending, it was confusing and just seemed choppy. It's like there's still a big part missing from the storyline to make it all seem logical. I suspect that most of it is being saved for the sequel though. By the way, when the girl came up in the elevator, was I the only one that thought she would be in a massive group rape? Since they're all young teenage boys, stuck there for quite some time already... 

Even though the movie had a few flaws, I really enjoyed watching it. It's slightly comparable with The Hunger Games, which I love by the way. The Maze Runner is entertaining and definitely worth a watch. 

My rate: 7/10