Kurt Loder Reviews The Divergent Series: Insurgent and Kumiko: The Treasure Hunter
Shailene Woodley in a sub-par sequel and Rinko Kikuchi in an overhyped Sundance item.
Those who love Veronica Roth's bestselling books may be distressed to learn that Insurgent, the sequel to last year's dystopian megaplex hit Divergent, takes major liberties with the Roth novel on which it's based. Or so I'm told by a colleague long conversant with the author's young-adult Divergent trilogy. I won't detail the changes my informant lists, but will note that a mysterious box has been inserted into the story that fans won't remember from the novel, because it's not there. Some readers may be annoyed by such jarring cinematic adjustments, but as I suppose the filmmakers might respond, so what?