ALLEGIANT FILM REVIEW

* This review includes spoilers for the Allegiant book and film *

I went into this film 50% blind. I read the Allegiant book over a year ago and couldn't remember exactly what happened. I was fine with this at the time; it was almost as if I was going to relive the Allegiant story all over again. However when I walked out the cinema, I was confused with what  could remember from the book, and what was shown on the theatre screen.

During the 24 hour readathon that I decided to participate in (blog coming soon), I decided to reread Allegiant to refresh my memory and take note on the differences from the movie. There were a lot more than I initially thought, but here are the ten main points I took.

1. I pretty sure Edward was not talked about in the movie. At the beginning of the book, Edward is shot by an Erudite soldier. Tobias is left to tell his mother, who welcomed Edward as factionless after leaving Dauntless, the bad news. This probably wasn't the most necessary scene to include in the movie, but it was still quite emotional.

2. Zeke and Uriah are not mentioned in the movie. In the book, Uriah especially is a main character whom escapes outside the wall with the 'gang'. Zeke, who is a good friend of Tobias, asks him to look after him since he is unable to leave Chicago. In the end, Uriah dies after being caught in a crossfire during the book. None of these events occur in the movie. I felt like this should have been included in the movie as it was a major part of the book.

3. Amar, Tobias' Dauntless initator instructor, is founded by the gang outside the walls in the book. Everyone initially thought that Amar was dead, but turns out he's been hangin' out with the Bureau since. I could be wrong, but I'm 99% sure that Amar was not mentioned in the movie - however I didn't think that this was a major loss.

4. George Wu, Tori's brother is also not mentioned in the movie. In both the movie and book, Tori is killed by one of Evelyn's soldiers before climbing the wall to escape. In the book when the gang arrive at the Bureau, they meet George and have to tell him the devastating news. George isn't in the movie at all.

5. In the movie, I was quite confused about Marcus' situation. From memory, he was in a cell the whole time - I could be wrong about this (let me know in the comments below). In the book however, Marcus is apart of The Allegiant but is sentenced by Evelyn to live outside the city.

6. Natalie's diary entries are non-existent in the movie. In the book, Tris is given her mothers electronic diary/letters from David that she wrote when she was first sent into the fence. I felt like this was a really important aspect of the book as we as the readers were given a deeper insight into Natalie Prior's childhood.

7. Tobias and Nita's 'friendship.' In the book, Nita has a plan to take down the Bureau and sucks Tobias in to it. Not only does this cause friction between Tobias and Tris, but it gets Tobias into a lot of trouble when they get caught. I think Nita is briefly in the movie, however she doesn't have as big an impact on Tris and Tobias' relationship. But I think she does help them in the end.

8. Almost the whole ending is completely different. In the book, Caleb sacrifices himself to stop the memory serum from being released in order for Tris to forgive him. However, last minute Tris ends up going into the room where the serum is stored. Being Divergent, the serum doesn't kill her, however David finds her and shoots her. In the movie, Tris and Caleb go with Tobias and Christina back inside the wall to stop the serum from spreading. No main characters die - all is good and well... for now.

9. While Tris and Caleb are still at the Bureau in the book, Tobias and Peter go back to Chicago to stop Evelyn from starting a war with the Allegiant and other stuff. Peter is sick of being a bad person and drinks the memory serum so he can start fresh. This doesn't happen in the movie. In the book, Peter is not featured much, but when he is at the end he draws a lot of empathy from the readers as he pretty much hates himself and what he's become. In the movie, he is featured quite a lot, but in the end he is seen as the bad guy again as he is left stranded outside the wall.

10. The book ends when the experiment is over. David's superiors allow the former faction members to continue living in the city. Chicago becomes a kind of paradise, as described by Tobias, as it's the only metropolitan area in the country governed by people who don't believe in genetic damage. Such a happy ending despite the tragic deaths. The movie ends with the gang back in Chicago and Tris explains the truth to everyone. That is it.


Overall, I really enjoyed the film. The actors were amazing and even though the story line was very different to the movie, I still really liked it. Rating the movie on its own, probably 4.5 stars out of 5. When comparing the movie to the book however, maybe about a 3 or 4.

I am eager to discover the events that will unfold in the final movie, Ascendant. We probably can assume that the overall ending will be similar to the books, but I can't wait to find out what will happen during the rest of the book.

*I will have a video review on my YouTube channel soon :) *

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Blog Archive

Powered by Blogger.