CREDIT: LIONSGATE
Insurgent stars Theo James as Four and Shailene Woodley as Tris Prior who join forces with other Divergents to fight the old and rigid faction regime.

The sequel to Divergent follows Tris Prior after her escape from the rigid faction system that labelled her the enemy. Instead of leaving the city and those that have turned their backs on her, Tris and Four head back in an attempt to prevent more people dying as the search for them continues. As one convenient plot device after another keeps them alive, the two must choose between evils with no way to know which choice is right.

Starting with what Insurgent does well, the scenery, action sequences and stunts are all incredible, with the transition from sims to reality being almost too smooth at times. There are multiple occasions where audience members can be immersed enough to feel their breath catch as Tris Tarzans her way across the city. The strange dichotomy of ultra-modern and post-apocalyptic architecture is still there, working well to reinforce the extreme disparity between those with factions and those without. Many of the strengths from the first movie, including excellent fight choreography and truly amazing cinematography, are carried to the second.

Shailene Woodley doesn’t disappoint at all in her return as Tris, playing the strong, perhaps too understanding, heroine we’ve come to love. Theo James, as Four, does a decent job of keeping up with her. There are scenes where his character seems to fluctuate wildly, making him a bit less realistic than those around him. Kate Winslet, a personal favourite in her role as Jeanine, somehow manages to be one of the more sympathetic characters while still being wonderfully hateable. Every other character seems almost dull when compared to the two contrasting lead women, however well played they may have been.

One of the biggest problems with Insurgent is just how conveniently everything seems to work out to keep the plot going in the direction the author wanted. Whenever there’s a real chance of things not working out, there’s a convenient train or relative or strange immunity to some but not all sim serums that saves the day. Perhaps the most frustrating aspect is that Divergents can somehow enter sims for tests but are magically resistant otherwise. It’s a convenient loophole that makes no sense based on the established science of the universe.

Without spoiling too much – and if you’re one of those people who fear any spoilers at all, you may want to skip a few sentences – it must be said that the ending of the movie is incredibly weak. We get a lot of build-up and tension and great character development, followed by one of the most anticlimactic endings ever. While there are still two movies to go – as the third is being split into two in true Hollywood money-grabbing style – one can’t help but feel incredibly disappointed by the last 20 or so minutes of the movie.

Overall, Insurgent is far from being a bad movie, with some amazing actresses, as well as scenery and fight choreography that do a lot to make up for the films failings. The idea behind the series is still interesting and hopefully the final instalments will go a bit further in explaining the why of it all.