Nothing in "Insurgent" looks original; it's an expensively-produced scrapheap of not just clichés but scenes and dialogue from other movies. Everything has been programmed to appeal to as wide a teenage audience as possible, with multi-racial young actors so trendy-pretty they are practically embalmed. Adapted from the second book in author Veronica Roth's trilogy, this sequel to the 2014 film "Divergent" is sketchy on narrative and even sketchier on developing what plot there is and the characters it involves. Shailene Woodley (a Jennifer Lawrence hopeful) and Theo James return as Tris and Four, here running through post-apocalyptic Chicago to evade the Erudite army and its leader, Jeanine (played again by Kate Winslet, as if she were sucking on a lemon). This futuristic war for power is fraught with inanities, head-butting fight scenes, and a box of unknown origin--sort of a Pandora's Box of historical data--that can only be opened by a Divergent. These teen rebels seem inexhaustible, and are tanned, tattooed and groomed to a fare-thee-well; it seems almost a crime to expect them to act. Casting directors are still of the ancient mindset that prettier people on the screen (their lips as puffy as possible) will reel in the youngsters, not realizing that better scripts and more plausible rebels are enough to bring in not just the target audience but curious grown-ups as well. This computer-designed adventure is glossy and shiny and fake, but some viewers are hypnotized by that artificial sheen, conned into believing that what they've just witnessed is an experience, something of value. ** from ****
Review of The Divergent Series: Insurgent
