Book-Movie Discussion: Divergent

I cannot express how much shock I feel right now. This book to movie adaptation was so good; it served as a great precursor to the rest of the movies. If you haven't seen it, go see it right now, even if you haven't read the books. I'm going to be discussing specific scenes from the movie, so if you don't want to be spoiled, go watch the movie and then come back! 

Spoiler-Filled Discussion

When I had previously heard the news that Uriah and the Dauntless-born initiates were cut, I was completely flabbergasted, I didn't think they'd be able to work around that since all of them play such major roles in the later books, but I think they worked around it perfectly. If you looked at the ranking board carefully, Uriah, Zeke and all of them had spots, so they weren't cut out of the movie completely. 

Starting from the beginning, there's a voiceover of Tris giving a little history behind the factions and basically how they came into place after the war, which I didn't love, but I guess it's necessary for the audience who hasn't read the books. There's a short clip of Tris when she was little, running after the Dauntless in her Abnegation clothes, which was fantastic foreshadowing of the rest of the movie. 

Although it was a bit weird seeing Ansel and Shailene as brother and sister, it worked to the extent it needed to, even though I wasn't too fond of it. 

The next best part was when she first joined Dauntless and was running with the other initiates to the train. As everyone got on the train, she kept running and during this whole time my adrenaline levels shot straight up and once she was finally onto the train, I was breathing as heavily as she was. And then she jumped again off the train with Christina, and then was the first jumper into the net. 

Then we meet Four. I am absolutely in love with Four and I think Theo James plays him perfectly. When Four and Tris first met, it was exactly how I imagined it. Tris's face was flushed from the adrenaline of jumping and Four just displayed the strong confident leader he was supposed to be. 

Peter didn't seem like the terrible guy that he was in the book. It was never actually revealed that he was part of the gang that attacked Tris, so there wasn't as much hatred against him. He also had some of the best lines in the movie, making him super sassy and almost likable. 

One change within the movie that I really liked was when Four taught Tris to go through the fear landscapes how a Dauntless would, rather than a Divergent, while in the book, she basically just had to slow herself down. Minor thing, but Tris only had five fears, unless I counted wrong...that was somewhat unclear. 

The last quarter of the movie was definitely the most intense, just as it was in the book. Both Four and Tris got recognized as Divergents, and Four was taken away, while Tris was about to be shot, when her mother saved her. When both of Tris's parents died, I basically lost it, I was crying so hard in my seat. Right after that, Four almost tried to kill Tris, and that entire fighting scene was intense. 

When she was fighting with Jeanine and getting her to shut down the program, I visibly cringed when she threw the knife, going right through Jeanine's hand. I was slightly confused when Jeanine was injected with the simulation and shut down the whole system. I feel like that could have been explained better, but it still doesn't affect my view of the movie too badly. 

The script for this entire movie was amazing. There was a perfect balance between serious, romantic and comical. One of my favorite dialogues was when Tris was about to jump of the ledge into the net and she was taking her sweater off and Peter began catcalling "Yeah stiff! Take it off!" Then once she had, he again said "Nevermind put it back on!" 

Another one of my favorite scenes was when Tris was trying to talk to Four for the first time, she asked him whether he was Dauntless born or a transfer and he replies "Why do you think you can talk to me?" And she replies sarcastically "Because you look so approachable." 

The final scene that I want to talk about is when Tris is threatening Peter to tell her where the Erudite are working. She's threatening to shoot him and he scoffs and says, "Pft you won't shoot me." Frustrated, she replies, "Why do people keep saying that!?" before shooting him in the arm. 

One thing I wished they would have added was the visiting day scene. In that book, that scene was so emotional because Tris didn't know if any of her parents were going to come and visit, but her mom did. That and Uriah would be the only two changes I would make to this movie. 

But overall I completely loved this movie and I can't wait until I go watch it again. What were your favorite scenes? Let me know in the comments!