Review: Allegiant BD + Screen Caps

THE MOVIE — 2.75/5

The third in the Divergent Series, Allegiant continues on the mundane path that began in 2014. This go around, we get a predictable story, clichéd situations, production and costumes and visual effects that looks like every other of the young adult dystopian movies (Hunger Games, Maze Runner, The Giver). There’s nothing new in this addition that began well enough (gave it a 3.5/5) but between Insurgent and this, offers nothing new.

Allegiant opens following the events from Insurgent in which the tyrant Jeanne has been killed by Four’s (THEO JAMES) mother, Evelyn (NAOMI WATTS), and the faction system destroyed, she seeks her own hold on the city including now allowing the people to cross outside the wall. Along with Four, her brother Caleb (ANSEL ELGORT), Peter (MILES TELLER) and Christina (ZOE KRAVITZ), Tris (SHAILENE WOODLEY) make their way over the wall and into the vast, toxic, wasteland.

The journey is treacherous and with Evelyn’s right-hand man, Edgar (JONNY WESTON), in pursuit, just as the group begins to despair, they come across the edge of the wasteland which opens up with a welcome wagon behind. They are taken to what was once Chicago O’Hara airport, named The Bureau, which is now a green, lush, compound with their own little society that includes an army. After being decontaminated and given bar codes, in which Tris is revealed to be “pure” while the others in variety of ways, “damaged”, Tris is introduced to the leader, David (JEFF DANIELS) whom, for whatever reason, quickly begins to trust, though to be fair, David appears to be an affable fellow.

We get a lay of this new life for the group, in which Tris and Four’s relationship is put to the test, and after what seems like a great situation, cracks in the system begins to be revealed from the army going out into what is known as the fringe and kidnapping children from their families and having their memories wiped, to David’s true intentions where we find out he and others have been monitoring the events inside Chicago where a war is brewing between Evelyn seeking to take complete control and the Johanna (OCTAVIA SPENCER) led Amity faction in which numerous casualties is certain. David’s answer is, after aligning with the slimy Peter, offers the mind-wiping gas to Evelyn in order to win.

Now it’s up to Tris, Four, Caleb and Christina to make their back into Chicago in the hopes of stopping the spread of the toxin before it’s too late. Yawn.

There is a tad more to the plot involving genetic purity and a clear copying of the ideas present in The Maze Runner (though I don’t know which novel came first) where the society is being monitored, but as you can tell, there’s a little bit of this and a little bit of that seen or as read in numerous other Young Adult novels which, probably courtesy of Twilight, studios bought up the rights in the hopes of capitalizing. Given the lackluster of this Divergent franchise (Allegiant took in a mere $179M worldwide compared to $288M in the first movie and $653M WW on the last Hunger Games). My hopes once this series is complete with the June 2017 release of Ascendant, the number of YA adaptations will cease.

I will admit, I didn’t feel that Allegiant was a particularly bad movie per se but it’s not terrible either. As with Insurgent, it never got to the point where I was bored and the cast mostly gives a fine performance including Shailene Woodley who does well in the lead and while she doesn’t hold a candle compared to the likes of Jennifer Lawrence, at least has some great charisma. Theo James is, well basically a statue while Miles Teller plays the slimeball character well enough however why anyone would trust his character and not put a bullet in the back of his head knowing the headaches he has and will cause is beyond me.

The veteran cast pretty much has limited roles. Maggie Q and Mekhi Pfeiffer exit stage left early on, Naomi Watts’ character softens comparatively to her intro in Insurgent and Ray Stevenson and Ashley Judd are primarily credited cameos. On the other hand, Jeff Daniels isn’t bad as the film’s primary antagonist and does the best he could playing such a mundane villain.

Allegiant was helmed by again Robert Schwentke returning and honestly, I’m not sure how much blame I can place on him or even the writers (however an extra 30-minutes could’ve easily completed the series but instead we get another 2 hour, overly stuffed movie to sit through), adapting a novel that borrows heavily from other young adult novels. I’m not sure how else Schwentke and company could’ve made their film stand out; that said, the studio seemed to be late to the game in trying to capitalize on the YA craze that has faded.

In the end, Allegiant isn’t terrible and as with its predecessor Insurgent, it’s at best passable entertainment, nothing more. It’s probably destined to air on SyFy or TNT in the future.

SPECIAL FEATURES – 3.0/5

This 2-disc set (BD, DVD) comes housed in a black HD slim case. Inside is a redemption code for the Digital HD copy.

Audio Commentary – Producers Douglas Wick & Lucy Fisher return after providing a ho-hum track on Insurgent and while the track isn’t bad, it is still strange not to have one of the writers or director involved.

Allegiant: From Book to Film (4:51; HD) chronicles how they split up the final book into two films. They really don’t satisfactorily explain why they needed to be broken up into two.

Battle in the Bullfrog (3:56; HD) looks at the design of the bullfrog ship and has some behind-the-scenes footage of the fight sequence inside.

Finding the Future: Effects and Technology (10:32; HD) breaks down the visual effects work and new prop designs done on the film.

Characters in Conflict (5:58; HD) – This featurette examines the conflict, or divergence if you will, that faces our characters, attempting to take the stakes up a notch.

The Next Chapter: Cast & Characters (7:36; HD) looks at the new and old actors and the friendships formed and the changes for their respective characters. Features on-set interviews with Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Miles Teller, Jeff Daniels, Naomi Watts and others.

Building the Bureau (11:56; HD) checks out the design of the headquarters.

Previews – Now You See Me 2, Gods of Egypt, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2, Insurgent, Get a Job

VIDEO – 4.5/5

AUDIO – 5.0/5

OVERALL – 3.5/5

Overall, Allegiant is the latest mundane entry in the Divergent Series and while I didn’t think it was classically bad and not an original moment from the production to the visual effects, heavily borrowing from other dystopian-set movies, I can’t say was bored and I at least did care about the Tris character. The 4K UHD released through Lionsgate offers fantastic audio/video transfers though the features are disappointing presuming they’re saving the best for the Ascendant  release…