Film Review: Allegiant (PG) (USA, 2016)

It seems after Mockingjay Part 2, the last of The Hunger Games, people and Hollywood need to take a break from dystopias. Similar in plot, Allegiant is the latest installment in the Divergent series. It follows Tris (Shailene Woodley) and her friends in the aftermath of overthrowing the ruthless system that controlled Chicago, their home. However, chaos ensues and the new system in the hands of outcasts is becoming like the previous but worse.

Tris and her friends manage to escape to the forbidden side of the wall that bars Chicago. On the other side, they find a society, richer in fact, and they learn that Chicago is an experiment for this society, testing its residents in terms of behaviour. Despite their promise to help restore her home and find a cure to the behaviourally “damaged”, Tris hesitates to place her trust in them and the film goes from there.

While an improvement compared to the previous two films, Allegiant was a let down. The acting was awkward and lack emotional depth, and the script equally so – the lines sounded forced. There were some scenes including a passionate kiss after a rescue that were out of place and again felt forced.

You would find that most of the film consists of…talking with bits of action thrown in. You would be waiting for something interesting to happen and when something happens or a reveal turns up, it disappoints you because the poor acting or dialogue takes your focus away, and the stakes aren’t high enough.

The ending was anticlimactic. It wasn’t necessary to split Allegiant into two films. Much of the latter half of the book is action-packed. In splitting the story, its momentum was reduced.

Review Score: 2/5

Allegiant releases in cinemas on April 14th 2016.

———-

This content has recently been ported from its original home on The Iris and may have formatting errors – images may not be showing up, or duplicated, and galleries may not be working. We are slowly fixing these issue. If you spot any major malfunctions making it impossible to read the content, however, please let us know at editor AT theaureview.com.