The Divergent Series: Insurgent

'Insurgent' is the product of a new type of filmmaking that historically started with James Cameron's 'Titanic' but has been progressively worsening since the box-office giant that is the 'Twilight' series. It's a type directly targeted at a specific demographic and audience that more often than not guarantees high returns against its investment, essentially making it critic proof. And I'm not simply generalizing YA books adapted into movies, familiar stories with an established fanbase, because 'Ender's Game' and 'The Giver' didn't exactly satisfy expectations. Meanwhile, the 'Harry Potter' and 'Hunger Games' films successfully defy the discussion, but the 'Transformers' franchise and 'Fifty Shades of Grey' are further evidence of what I'm trying to arrive at. The larger issue at hand is a seemingly growing generation of moviegoers who care little for narrative quality or development and want it replaced with hyperbolic melodrama or amplified fantasy that feels like a thrill ride attraction. ('Jurassic World' also falls into this category of bad movies, so be warned of my future review.)

This second installment in the 'Divergent' franchise, based on the surprisingly popular books by Veronica Roth, picks up minutes after the first movie. Or, at least, that's what we are lead to believe. After Kate Winslet's voice, playing the leader of the Erudite faction Jeanine Matthews, is heard from a prominently displayed hologram message that insinuates a new totalitarian state, Tris (Shailene Woodley), Four (Theo James), Peter (Miles Teller) and Caleb (Ansel Elgort) are seen running out the woods to the Amity compound in the hopes of finding sanctuary. There, Tris is confronted with the bodies of those who've died for her. But we're soon given respite from this nightmarish scene when it turns out the entire sequence is, in fact, a nightmare from which Tris quickly awakens. In protest to her bad dreams, the young heroine decides to cut her hair short. It doesn't make any sense, but hey, what's the point of inciting a rebellion if you don't look good in the process. Besides, this dystopic future apparently still has access to a good hairstylist.

But let us not quibble over such silly details like who is Tris's barber with the talent of making blond highlights appear natural or how great it must be to live in a post-apocalyptic Chicago with mousse, hair gel and a blow dryer readily available. The larger issue at stake here is a movie and story practically littered with false promises, red herrings and MacGuffins. Sequences, like that gotcha opening, is not the only time the filmmakers pull the rug from under the audience with an emotional fake out. Director Robert Schwentke, who's given us a few respectable features along with the god-awful 'R.I.P.D.,' reverts to cheap tactics on several occasions, practically littering the entire the movie with such deceptive schemes. This only succeeds in negating the plot's emotional core — Tris dealing with the amount of violence and death surrounding her so-called specialness. We don't care or sympathize with the protagonist's dilemma because she can simply wake up at any given moment from a bad dream, rendering whatever internal conflict we just witnessed entirely moot.

By the time we finally reach the moment when Tris performs the Sim trials, we're drained from the constant back and forth between reality and Tris's imagination. We get it; she needs help. But seriously, among the ruins of the city with an abundance of hairstylists, there isn't at least one therapist for treating the poor's girl obvious psychological issues. And if the first movie already failed to make any logical sense, the sequel amazingly expands on its illogical premise and frankly grows dumber. A mysterious box — designed by the same person who created Pinhead's puzzle box? — has been discovered, and of course, only one person can miraculously open it to expose a secret message from the founders of the five faction society. (The voice of Dana Carvey's Church Lady would appropriately interrupt here with her thoughts.) On top of this, we are made to contend with several senseless betrayals, absurdly contradictory double-crosses and characters being once angry with each other but soon forgotten without a single apology ever spoken or a reasonable conversation shared.

From a script by Brian Duffield, Mark Bomback ('Dawn of the Planet of the Apes') and producer Akiva Goldsman, 'Insurgent' is a terrible piece of motion picture entertainment that makes little to no logical sense with a cleverly disguised disdain and mistrust of intelligence and rational knowledge. And don't tell me it doesn't because — especially considering the author's public declaration of faith — we need only look at the plot's enemy: a group dedicated to the pursuit of intellectual understanding. Added to that, we have a story arc riddled with distractingly contrived coincidences and much-too-convenient plot devices to ever be believable or feel remotely authentic. Naomi Watts's character is arguably the biggest offender. And this is precisely the problem with this new type of filmmaking, which has become increasingly popular. As long as it looks pretty on the screen, the action is made overtly exciting and characters grossly melodramatic, narrative failures and the lack of logic goes ignored. An intelligent and genuinely gripping story is a thing of the past in the post-apocalyptic future, replaced by bigger, louder action and histrionics.

The Blu-ray: Vital Disc Stats

Summit and Lionsgate Home Entertainment bring 'The Divergent Series: Insurgent' to Blu-ray as a two-disc combo pack with a flyer for an UltraViolet Digital Copy. The Region A locked, BD50 disc is joined by a DVD-9 copy of the movie and housed inside a blue, eco-elite case with a glossy slipcover. After several skippable trailers, viewers are taken to a menu screen with full-motion clips and music.