As an avid book reader, it is always exciting to see a book come to life on the big screen. Seeing if the picture you painted in your head turned out to be how it is played out in the movie is half the fun. I think that is why the Harry Potter and Hunger Games movies were so successful.

I went to see the Divergent film with very high expectations. I thought it was going to be very similar to The Hunger Games film which I also have read and loved the movie. I liked the beginning part of the Divergent film very much. It was not at all how I pictured it to be yet I still enjoyed how it turned out. As the movie progressed, however, I became more and more unimpressed. I understand that it is difficult to follow the book exactly, because it would be a much longer movie and things don’t come off on screen the same way as they do in print. However, this movie completely altered very important scenes in the book and skimmed over some of the most crucial parts of the character development. The whole movie seemed to me like it was rushing to the finish line at full speed, without giving the viewer time to appreciate what was happening or connect with the characters. The love story was so brief it was almost comical how fast they decided that they loved each other. They also completely altered the climax scene of the movie, no doubt to get more screen time for Kate Winslet who is the big name in the cast.

Shailene Woodley and Theo James have extremely good chemistry in this movie, and it is fun to see their relationship, although short, develop into what will be an intriguing love story throughout the trilogy. Shailene is a breakthrough actress this year, appearing in what seem to be two blockbuster hits: “Divergent” and “The Fault in Our Stars.” She first appeared in the TV show “Secret Life of the American Teenager,” which was a moderately popular show about a pregnant teenage girl. Her rise to A-list fame came when she starred in “The Descendants” with George Clooney. Theo James is fairly new to the scene, not having been in any notable productions before Divergent. I was probably not the only one surprised to see Kate Winslet in a movie in this genre, because she usually goes for more serious acting roles. I think that she is an amazing actress, but that she is not quite right for this part. I think that she played the part a little too pleasantly and that she could have instilled more fear and hatred into the audience. Miles Teller plays the bully in the movie, Peter, very well. Miles is a very up and coming actor right now, having just been in a few blockbuster hits with big names like Zack Efron. He was also just recently in a movie with Shailene Woodley called “The Spectacular Now,” which was very popular with young adults. I think that he is a good fit for the role, and since I have read all of the books I know that his role in the story in the later movies will be played out well by Miles. Tris’ brother in the movie played by Ansel Elgort, is going to be playing alongside Shailene as well in the movie “The Fault in Our Stars” coming out next fall. You can see the chemistry in the cast and I think that they all play alongside each other very well in the movie.

I enjoyed the books thoroughly and read the first one cover to cover in one night. I have since reread the book twice, so you could say that I was a little excited for the movie. My expectations were probably too high, but I do not think they were high enough to excuse to poor execution of the plot of the entire book. I recommend watching the movie before you read the book, or else you will be disappointed in the movie if you read the book first. This is a family movie, and is appropriate for children if they are comfortable with a couple of fighting scenes.

Do not get me wrong, I did not dislike the film, it just disappointed me. To be fair, coming out after The Hunger Games films is already setting itself up for some sort of failure. I do not think these films are as similar as everyone seems to think, but it is hard not to compare them when there is such a limited amount of movies in this genre at the moment. I do not think this movie is overrated or underrated, I think that it is in just the spot it is supposed to be. The film makers decided that screen time and theatricality was a worthy substitute for character and plot development.