Movie Review: “Allegiant” is a little too familiar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0G0C-vMHcQY

MOVIE REVIEW: “ALLEGIANT” (PG-13)

Congratulations, “Allegiant.” You have now made it even more difficult to differentiate  between “The Hunger Games,” “The Maze Runner,” and the “Divergent” series. There are so many similarities between these popular young adult fiction movie adaptations, in fact, that a couple months from now one might question whether they will actually be able to remember which one is which.

Not that this is necessarily a new thing. Hollywood often jumps on whatever is popular and tries to duplicate its success. With some of these books, however, it appears that tinsel town may have gone too far, because clearly the aforementioned movies feature various plot points that have seemingly blurred into one.

“Allegiant” is based on the third book in a series penned by Veronica Roth. It finds warrior-for-the-people Tris (Shailene Woodley), her dreamy soul mate Four (Theo James), and a  resistance team venturing beyond the massive walls of a war-torn and politically divided Chicago where they find an even more ravaged outside world. Eventually, our fearless crew befriends a society it never knew existed, and ultimately Tris is brought face-to-face with David (Jeff Daniels), a “Truman Show”-inspired godlike figure who may or may not have a hidden agenda.

Actually, there are hidden agendas aplenty in the world of the “Divergent” series. Many of the characters throughout these stories simply switch sides if it will ensure their survival. Just ask obnoxious Peter (played by Miles Teller of “Whiplash” fame), a character so flip-floppy, you’ll ponder why Tris and crew didn’t kick his ass to the curb two movies ago.

This much can be said for “Allegiant.” Tonally, it couldn’t be any more different from the last chapter. With the cat out of the bag and the primary characters coming to grips with the fact that there’s an entire world aside from the one they’ve always known, “Allegiant” opts to amp up the sci-fi angle in a way that was only touched upon in “Insurgent.” Despite the tonal difference, though, this movie is dull and convoluted, and while it may look a little different from its predecessor, it’s all too familiar in other ways.

It’s confusing enough that this series is so blatantly reminiscent of “The Hunger Games” and “The Maze Runner,” but now, it’s throwing in elements of “The Matrix,” “Oblivion,” and “Mad Max: Fury Road,” too. And the whole film is underlined by a Joseph Trapanese composition that sounds like the kind of stuff Daft Punk would have deemed too weak to include in the “Tron: Legacy” score.

There’s some big time talent in this picture. Shailene Woodley is an outstanding actress. You don’t need to look beyond her effective performances in “The Descendants,” “The Spectacular Now,” and “The Fault in Our Stars,” to realize that.  In “Allegiant,” Woodley is certainly cute and, to a certain extent, spunky, but she lacks the sort of fierce spark here that took Jennifer Lawrence to such dramatic heights in the stronger entries of “The Hunger Games” series. Translation: Woodley’s Tris is simply too soft to buy into as a real savior for the people. Woodley looks far more badass in that poster than she ever does in the actual movie.

Elsewhere, “Allegiant” is populated by reputable A-listers like Naomi Watts, Jeff Daniels, and Octavia Spencer, and even they are unable to breathe life into the rather dull proceedings.

To call “Allegiant” a straight-up bad movie wouldn’t be entirely fair. There are a few cool isolated sequences worth mentioning. The scaling of the Chicago wall is well-done, and there are a couple of hand-to-hand combat scenes that are more than competently staged. Thing is, there’s a lot of familiarity, boredom,  cheese, and undeniable groan-worthy ridiculousness to go along with the few moments that are worth noting.

Again, “Allegiant” isn’t the worst movie to hit theaters recently (it sure beats the hell out of “The 5th Wave”), but it’s a largely lifeless and forgettable one. And the very idea that we still have one more cinematic chapter to go (“Ascendant” is slated for 2017) is enough to cause your eyeballs to roll into the back of your skull.