Sooooo some, yes three (humble brag) of us here at That’s Normal got to see Divergent BEFORE it hits theaters next Friday, March 21st and we have thoughts! Katy saw it after she covered the Divergent Tour in San Francisco, Tiffany in Seattle and Nikki in Los Angeles. Settle in for our SPOILER FREE Divergent review. Tune back in for a spoiler-ific review once the movie is out.
.
Faction Fashions:
Let’s get right to the heart of – what were the factions wearing? Who was the best? The worst?
Katy: I was surprised at how much I liked the abnegation garb. It was the fashion equivalent to climbing into a dryer-warmed grey wooly bag of comfort. I’m tempted to call it ‘Bagnegation‘ fashion (or would it be bag-affirmation fashion?). Anyway, judging from Catching Fire and the omnipresence of beard-heads, knits are in this season so sign me up!
I was most worried about how the movie would deal with Amity fashion. For me, the book description (red shirts with yellow pants?) conjured an image of a faction of garishly clad rejects from Saved by the Bell.
“Um, he’s all yours, Amity” say all the other factions
But the colors were muted it down a lot, and made it more scruffy/ruffly than bold and graphic. That said, with all of that red and yellow Amity still came off as the ketchup and mustard of the Divergent world. New faction name: Condiments
Tiffany: I can’t even remember how the fashion was described in the book and quite honestly, right before we were headed to the red carpet I asked my friend to look up who Peter and Eric were in the book on the Divergent wiki. I am a bad fan, but in my defense I read these books a while ago and I when I did read them the only person I cared about was Four. As far as the fashion in the movie, I really like the pants the Dauntless kids wear, in fact I own a pair just like it from the Gap.
Katy: Tiffany, you are the worst fan! (JK! I had to power-skim the entire book right before I went because I didn’t know who Max was. Or anything that happened in the book at all.)
Nikki: The latex blue lab coat worn by the Erudite scientists or brainiacs or whatever they call themselves was one of my favorite fashion moments. I actually got to see if up close and personal last May during our set visit (humble brag. Also more on that coming SOON) and it got me thinking about how maybe the Erudite are just a bunch of fetish lovers and Abnegation are more into Furries so that’s really why they’re trying to get rid of them via subconscious human robot slaughter: they just don’t agree on what turns them on in the bedroom.
Katy: Amity=Mass Orgies. But Erudite doesn’t mind as long as whatever happens outside the fence, stays outside the fence.
.
Favorite Character
Katy: I want to declare my favorite characters in the movie are Theo’s lips. I liked they way they were really big on screen, and that they moved sensually when forming words. The lower lip may have carried the upper lip a little performance-wise, but all-in-all it was an Oscar-worthy effort. Also his back. Mmmmmmm.
Nikki: I too agree with this answer. Theo’s lips deserve some sort of best supporting actor award from the Academy. Or at least some sort of official mention from the Greek government. Theo’s lips and pronunciation of HOOOOOMUS may just be what saves that country from financial meltdown.
Katy: Is there a place where I can hear him say HOOOOOMUS? Because I’m interested. Maybe they could raise the price to visit the Parthenon a million percent, and then promise every visitor a souvenir photo that Theo James photobombs. Financial problem solved, Greece. You’re welcome.
Nikki: Katy, check the Comic Con press conference for Divergent, I thought we had it on our Instagram but we don’t. FAIL. Of course, I don’t actually have a link for you… FAIL again.
{Bekah Update: Guys I got this. We broke it down here: Theo Jame HOOMAS}
Tiffany: You guys, it totally goes without saying that Four is my favorite character. My most favorite surprise character was President Fitz from Scandal as Tris’ dad, can you tell I did so much research into this movie before I saw it? I told Bekah the day after I saw the movie “every moment Theo wasn’t on the screen was a waste of my time” I heart him so hard and not just because he’s hot, because he was SO effing amazing in the movie. Totally perfect casting.
.
Tris/Four Relationship
Katy: I don’t know if maybe I fundamentally lack imagination of any kind, but I was not feeling their relationship in the book. It seemed to follow the weird “hot guy is totally into the nerdy, boring girl for no discernible reason” convention (paging Bella Swan!). I think the movie made Tris a more believable love interest by giving her a more active role in fighting her way up the ranks without relying on a Rocky-esque montage of pluckiness. Plus the tattoo-back touching and subsequent kiss were pretty hot.
Tiffany: I agree the kiss was pretty hot but it was followed by the lamest line ever, maybe it wasn’t the line but the way it was delivered. The whole theater started laughing so hard when she said it. I was a major hater of this couple when I first saw who was cast, but I think they did a pretty good job. I was able to get over the fact that Shailene was cast as Tris because she sort of did disappear and become her character, but she still had an “I’m obsessed and stalking my older brother’s best friend” vibe going on towards him. Total little sister vibe instead of lov-ah vibe (I just said vibe a lot and I’m not mad).
Nikki: Agreed, it takes a while for the sizzle to happen but when it does… HELLOOOOO nurse. And Hello Theo’s Lips. Lezzzzbehonesthere. Also “let’s take it slow” also earned a hearty laugh from our audience too.
Katy: I hear you about that line, Tiffany! But I have to say, in Shailene Woodley’s defense, that even though I begrudge her that ridiculously thick head of hair (seriously, her ponytail was about 3 inches in diameter), I did not mind her in this role. The chemistry is there, and she made Tris a much more interesting character for me.
Overall Impressions
Katy: I really liked it. I will admit to being a little meh on the book. But the film really tightened up the pacing, and added more action to the climactic scene. It also packed more of an emotional punch for me. Like when Tris made the decision to leave Abnegnation, I felt the grief and conflict of the decision more so than I did when reading. I mean, I could never leave such a pretty mommy (Ashley Judd). All-in-all a win. Plus, did anyone mention yet that Theo James is super-hot as Four? Anyone?
Nikki: Guys, it gets better with each viewing (humble brag) but honestly, if you were a fan of the books or even just YA literature, you need to see this, not only for the quality of the film making and the lips but for the good of the genre of YA book to movie adaptation. Go see it. You are not TOO COOL. Trust me, I know most of you, just go see it.
Tiffany: I am totally stoaked to see it again on the 21st. I don’t often like movies as much as I like the book, but I honestly feel like I had the same feelings toward the movie that I did when reading the book for the first time (obviously a long time ago). I lol’ed at parts (Miles Teller is hilarious as always) and I also may have sobbed as well. I even started tearing up like a fool during the zip line scene and I have no idea why. I guess I was feeling emotional that night. All in all I loved it, I will see it again and I will buy it once it comes out on dvd so I can replay Theo’s glory over and over again.
