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Has there ever been a movie franchise as disjointed as "The Divergent Series"?
The first installment based on Veronica Roth's dystopian young-adult book series, "Divergent," came off as a pale imitation of "The Hunger Games," heavy in exposition and short on action. The second movie, "Insurgent," ramped up the action and made room for Shailene Woodley — playing the reluctant heroine Tris Pryor — to take command at center stage.
Now comes the third movie, "Allegiant" — adapting half of Roth's trilogy finale — and it's a mess. Director Robert Schwentke, who directed "Insurgent," takes several steps backward, piling on new scenarios and villains when we still hadn't quite sorted out the elements that were added last time.
"Allegiant" starts off with the "factionless" rebels — the outcasts from the old sorting system of the partly rebuilt Chicago's young people — mopping up from when they overran the nasty Erudites and when rebel leader Evelyn (Naomi Watts) killed the calculating Erudite honcho Janine (Kate Winslet, whose absence is sorely felt here).
While Evelyn's rebels are staging swift trials against Janine's forces, they are facing resistance from Johanna (Octavia Spencer) and her more forgiving Amity group. Tris, who wants to answer the call to see what's beyond the city wall, also has a beef with Evelyn, who has closed off access to "The Fringe" on the other side.
Tris and her hunky boyfriend, Four (Theo James), aim to defy Evelyn, Four's mom, and jump the fence — after first springing Tris' brother Caleb (Ansel Elgort) from the rebels' jail. Also along for the ride are their trusty friend Christina (Zoe Kravitz) and their less-than-trusty frenemy Peter (Miles Teller), who's as much a jerk as he was before.
Across The Fringe, our group find survivors living in the wastelands. They also find something more surprising: a high-tech outpost at O'Hare Airport whose leader, David (Jeff Daniels), leads an effort to restore humans to "pure" genetics. Chicago, he says, is a running experiment to that end, to fix the genetically "damaged" humans created by the faction system. David also says there has been only one successful "pure" person to come out of Chicago: Tris.
The three screenwriters behind "Allegiant," all new to the franchise, repeat a familiar cycle, presenting Tris with an adult leadership figure — Janine in the first movie, Evelyn in the second, and now David — in whom to place her trust. What's most annoying about the set-up this time is that it forces Tris to revert to the mousy, passive character she was in "Divergent," ignoring how much she has evolved since.
The action sequences are exciting in fits and starts, and there are some nifty futuristic effects involving the super-advanced O'Hare location — including hovering drones for David's troops and a surveillance system that's like a 24th-century upgrade of Google Maps.
But, all in all, "Allegiant" feels like a place-holder for when the real action starts in the book's second half — coming next March in the fourth movie, "Ascendant." Here's hoping that, as in the original-cast "Star Trek" movies, the even-numbered installments in "The Divergent Series" are the good ones.
Twitter: @moviecricket —
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'The Divergent Series: Allegiant'
Tris and her friends are back to reclaim Chicago, but facing new rivals in this lackluster third chapter of the franchise.
Where • Theaters everywhere.
When • Opens Friday, March 18.
Rating • PG-13 for intense violence and action, thematic elements and some partial nudity.
Running time • 120 minutes.