Insurgent

What would Hollywood do without the assistance of franchises to keep that never ending flow of money always flowing? It is amazing how many Hollywood franchises have been created, such as "Planet of the Apes", "The Hunger Games", "Stars Wars", "The Bond Series", "Harry Potter" just to mention a handful. Now we have the second installment of the "Divergent Series" entitled "Insurgent". Will the franchises end? Not if they keep churning out the cash they generate.

One choice can transform you--or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior (Shailene Woodley) must continue to save those she loves--and herself--while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love. This installment of the Divergent series raises the stakes for Tris as she searches for allies and answers in the ruins of a futuristic Chicago. Tris and Four (Theo James) are now fugitives on the run, hunted by Jeanine (Kate Winslet), the leader of the power-hungry Erudite elite. Racing against time, they must find out what Tris's family sacrificed their lives to protect, and why the Erudite leaders will do anything to stop them.
Haunted by her past choices but desperate to protect the ones she loves, Tris, with Four at her side, faces one impossible challenge after another as they unlock the truth about the past and ultimately the future of their world.

Others to round out the cast are Miles Teller as Peter, Ansel Elgort as Caleb, Tris's brother, Jai Courtney as Eric, Mekhi Phifer as Max, Naomi Watts as Evelyn, Ray Stevenson as Marcus, Octavia Spencer as Johanna, Zoe Kravitz as Christina, Tony Goldwyn as Andrew, Jonny Weston as Edgar, Daniel Dae Kim as Jack Kang, Ashley Judd as Natalie, Tris's mother and Keiynan Lonsdale as Uriah.

This was directed with the same feel as the first installment, "Divergent" which was directed by Neil Burger. Since Robert Scwentke ("Tattoo" '02, "The Family Jewels" '03, "Flightplan" '05, "The Time Traveler's Wife" '09, "RED" '10, "R.I.P.D." '13) directed this installment, the toughest thing he had to do was to keep with the same feel, intensity and pacing that its predecessor exuded, and he was able to execute that similar style of Burger's. This isn't always easy to do considering each director has their own artistic style. It was written by Brian Duffield, Akiva Goldsman and Mark Bomback based on the novel by Veronica Roth. I was certainly surprised by this particular plot or storyline in that it was more fresh and original than I ever expected. It flowed well from one scene to the next, and the character development, although wasn't Academy Award material, was solid and believable. And considering that these guys did not write "Divergent", all the more reason that it's amazing that this flowed as well as it did. It did have very few places of choppiness, but being a franchise, this truly continued well. And don't worry to all those Divergent series fans out there, because there will be another installment, "Allegiant: Part 1" directed by Schwentke as well in 2016.

If you like lots of action, adventure with a thrilling storyline all with nifty visual effects in a neat 3D format, you will be in franchise heaven. And if this fare is not your cup of tea, the action and visuals will certainly be enough to keep you awake so as to make up for the price of admission.

Out of 4 Stars: 3                                 Rated: PG-13                                119mins.