Divergent (2014 Film) Neil Burger

Box office

Divergent grossed $150.9 million in North America, and $137.9 million in other countries, for a worldwide total of $288.9 million.[3] Factoring in all revenues and expenses, Deadline Hollywood estimated that the film made a profit of $71.87 million.[75]

On its opening weekend, the film attained the No. 1 spot in domestic and worldwide box office rankings by Rentrak.[76][77] The film grossed $4.9 million in late night screenings, on Thursday March 20, 2014.[11] On its opening day, the film grossed $22.8 million in the United States (including the Thursday night gross).[78][79][80] Divergent accumulated $54,607,747 from 3,936 theaters at an average of $13,873 per theater, on its opening weekend in the United States and Canada[81][82][83] and grossed $1.7 million internationally from four territories, with a worldwide total of $56,307,747.[84][85][86]

Critical response

Divergent received mixed reviews from critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an approval rating of 41% based on 238 reviews, with an average rating of 5.40/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "With an adherence to YA formula that undercuts its individualistic message, Divergent opens its planned trilogy in disappointingly predictable fashion."[87] Metacritic gives the film a score of 48 out of 100, based on 38 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[88] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore were more receptive to the film, giving it a CinemaScore grade of "A". The survey group was 69% female, and half was over 25.[89][90]

The main criticisms of the film were its generic execution and predictable plot.[91][92] Bruce Diones of The New Yorker called it, "barely diverting",[93] and Jordan Adler of We Got This Covered said it was a "plodding and generic dystopian drama".[94] Several critics have compared the film unfavorably with other young adult fiction adaptations such as Harry Potter and, predominantly, The Hunger Games. Andrew Barker of Variety said, "Unlike the Harry Potter series' tangible, fully dimensional Hogwarts or The Hunger Games' colorfully variegated districts, Divergent's vision of new Chicago doesn't have much to distinguish it from a standard-issue post-apocalyptic pic."[95] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone wrote that, "At least The Hunger Games spawned two terrific movies and a breakthrough star in Jennifer Lawrence. Onscreen, Divergent ignites only indifference."[96]

Peter Debruge of Variety considered it a much better adaptation writing that, "[although] it shares a fair amount of DNA in common with The Hunger Games, it ranks as far superior".[97] According to Todd Gilchrist of The Playlist, "Woodley makes for more than uncertain enough of a hero to add detail and meaning to the implosion of this world", adding that "there's little artifice to her performance, and the mundane honesty of her reactions create a believability that the world would otherwise lack." About James's performance, Gilchrist adds that he "manages the considerable accomplishment of seeming like a real grown-up man" and that he "makes the character's transformation from hardass to collaborator seem natural, if inevitable".[98] Drew McWeeny at HitFix said, "it helps that [they] got Woodley and James in the leads. [Woodley's] like a walking empathy battery, wide-open emotionally, easy to read and enormously appealing", also adding that James is "incredibly natural onscreen".[99]

Andrew Osmond of SFX magazine was more receptive to the film, calling it "an often entertaining, and sometimes very interesting, piece of teen SF".[100] Orlando Weekly's Sam Allard gave the film a 3/5 rating, praising Shailene Woodley's performance by saying she "rescues and then raises up a film that could have been an utter disaster".[101] Christy Lemire of RogerEbert.com agreed with this sentiment, writing, "the performances—namely from stars Shailene Woodley and Theo James and Kate Winslet in a juicy supporting role—always make the movie watchable and often quite engaging".[102]

Michael O'Sullivan of The Washington Post felt that the film surpassed its source material, feeling that "it's rare that a movie is as good as the book on which it's based. It's even more unusual when it's better."[103] Leigh Paatsch of the Herald Sun dubbed the film a "solid first-up effort for the Divergent franchise",[104] and Margaret Pomeranz of At the Movies gave praise to director Neil Burger, stating that he "handles the action with aplomb".[105]

The Playlist's Todd Gilchrist gave it a mixed review saying that it has "great ideas ... and some terrific character work, but it's given such uneven attention, alternately languished upon and glossed over".[98] IGN's Matt Patches gave it 5.8 out of 10, citing its similarities to other young adult films and contrived Dauntless plot line. He praised lead actors Theo James and Shailene Woodley's performances, judging that they "add personality and physicality to the limp script they're acting out".[106] Scott Mendelson of Forbes magazine echoed these sentiments, arguing that despite Woodley's excellent performance, "the generic story reduced a large portion of the mythology to irrelevancy". Mendelson believed that the film would please the novel's fanbase.[107]

Accolades