Editorials

Review: ‘The Martian’ Makes Science Look Cool Again

the martian review

The Martian was directed by Ridley Scott and written by Drew Goddard. It’s based on the initially self-published sci-fi novel of the same name by Andy Weir. The movie has a massive cast that I won’t be able to list off here, but the main players are Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Jeff Daniels, and Chiwetel Ejiofor.

Several decades in the future, NASA has expanded enough to send manned ships to Mars. During one of these routine missions, Mark Watney (played by Damon) is left behind and presumed dead when a massive storm threatens to kill his crew. He awakens to find himself alone on Mars with nearly zero supplies and the harsh reality that it will be years before anyone can rescue him.

What plays out is a struggle for Watney to use his wits and ingenuity to survive on this harsh planet while everyone on Earth uses their own wits to get to him before time runs out. There’s also his crew, led by Commander Lewis (Chastain), headed to Earth having to deal with the fact that they left their crewman and friend behind.

the martian review

Going in, it’s easy to see a lot of similarities between The Martian and Apollo 13. The author, Weir, was certainly inspired by this and other space films. This isn’t a bad thing because The Martian has its own voice and style thanks to Ridley Scott’s signature knack for making futuristic sci-fi feel accessible. And Weir, of course, brought his own background as an engineer to the original source material, making The Martian feel very authentic.

I haven’t read the book, and I’m probably the opposite of a scientist, but the film managed to keep me engaged with the more complicated details surrounding Damon’s problems and solutions that could have easily gone over my head. There were still some moments where I felt a little lost, but it never took me out of the movie.

While the scenes outside of Mars are great, the movie really excels whenever Damon is onscreen. Mark Watney is a refreshing optimist who is nearly impossible to dislike. He’s funny and cracks jokes throughout his dilemma, but Damon also delivers some heavy, desolate scenes that are some of his best to date.

the martian review

In fact, Damon’s performance ultimately saves the entire movie. If you don’t like his character and want to root for him, then you’ll have a hard time believing that everyone on Earth is willing to spend billions of dollars and months out of their lives to save him, even though the odds of success are perpetually low.

It helps that everyone who’s seen Saving Private Ryan has gotten used to Matt Damon being someone worth rescuing, even if that means putting your entire life on hold. Because Mark Watney is such a fun character, I was able to ignore how strange this entire setup was and just enjoy the ride.

My only real issues with the film have to do with how some of the characters on Earth have limited roles despite being played by such big-name actors. Most of them are only in the movie to share exposition or explain something for a few sentences. Sure, we get to see Donald Glover play a mean Abed, and there’s one scene involving Sean Bean that had me in tears (the good kind).

But aside from Jeff Daniels, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Benedict Wong, I didn’t find myself loving any of these side characters that much. Though it’s a small complaint considering how incredible Ejiofor’s performance was, even if the minor roles felt a little underdeveloped.

the martian review

That said, The Martian is a witty, funny, and sometimes nerve-wracking movie that goes back and forth between charming lines of dialogue and believable peril. For my money, it’s one of the best films of the year and one of the best space movies of the decade.

Grade: A

Please do yourself a favor and see this one on the big screen. It’s not every year that we get a Ridley Scott film that feels like a new classic.

If you’ve seen The Martian, let me know your thoughts in the comments. And be sure to check out our podcast review coming this Sunday, where we’ll talk about the film in more detail.

I’m Jon and thanks for reading this. You can subscribe to my posts by clicking “Follow” in the right sidebar. Or just say hey on Twitter! @JonNegroni

Review: ‘Sicario’ Proves that Even Bleak Movies Should Look Amazing

sicario review

Sicario was directed by Denis Villeneuve and written by Taylor Sheridan. It stars Emily Blunt, Benicio Del Toro, Josh Brolin, and Daniel Kaluuya.

The movie centers around a government task force that attempts to take down the head of a Mexican drug cartel with an unorthodox strategy. Emily Blunt plays Kate, a seasoned FBI agent with a strict code of morality. She has to team up with other agents who are a bit more loose with the rules.

One of these agents is Alejandro, played by Del Toro, whose mysterious and apparently violent past puts him at odds with Kate throughout the film. Matt, played by Brolin, is their sarcastic, always-a-step-ahead leader who persists on keeping Kate in the dark about what’s really going on. 

This movie has a very simple premise paired with a high level of intensity. Your mind won’t be blown by anything that happens, but you’ll still enjoy the ride. This is because Villeneuve teamed up with cinematographer Roger Deakins (who is also working on the Blade Runner sequel) to make this otherwise straightforward thriller into a beautiful work of film.

sicario review

The attention to detail is certainly the best aspect of Sicario, followed closely by Del Toro’s incredible performance. Every set piece is brilliantly shot with an authentic sense of lighting and sound effects. When a silenced weapon is shot in a hallway, you see and hear the shells scatter on the floor. Scenes taking place at night actually have shadows and lighting that isn’t glossed to spoon-feed you the reactions of the actors. You have to guess at times what’s going on behind the dark.

All of this sets Sicario up to be a memorable action thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat, and it delivers that promise well. Unfortunately, a few hefty flaws hold this movie back from being a true masterpiece. The main one is that the story itself is incredibly one-note.

The movie begins with high stakes. And every big set piece that follows somewhat fails to elevate the intensity. Sicario essentially builds up to a bombastic third act that never happens. Though the third act is still great, it’s only about as interesting as the first two. I found myself caring less and less about the fate of certain characters because I’d grown used to seeing them in these perilous situations, and the writing wasn’t strong enough to keep me invested in anyone but Del Toro.

sicario review

While Blunt’s performance is impressive, her character slowly becomes difficult to understand or connect with. This isn’t a problem early in the film when we’re experiencing the confusion of the situation through her eyes. Her naiveté is excusable, then.

But once the third act comes along, Kate’s increasingly bizarre decisions and lack of tact for an FBI agent make it hard for you to care about her arc, mostly because it doesn’t grow her. She actually becomes less dynamic.

Several other characters in the film do little to propel the plot forward, and I believe this movie could have done a better job at cutting the fat and focusing on characters who seemed more interesting, including a group of “cowboy” agents who didn’t get enough screen time.

That said, and I can’t say this enough, Del Toro alone is worth the price of admission for this film, as his lines are easily the most memorable in the entire movie. Everything he says and does steals the show from everyone else onscreen, and I’ll be watching the movie again just to relive one of his final scenes in the movie.

sicario review

Grade: A-

I recommend this movie to anyone who loves superb cinematography and interesting action thrillers. But if you’re expecting something as subversive as Prisoners or Enemy (Villeneuve’s last two films), you may not get exactly what you want out of Sicario. At the very least, however, you’ll get to see Benicio Del Toro make his case for a “Best Supporting Actor” nomination.

If you’ve seen Sicario, let me know what you think in the comments, and be sure to check out this week’s podcast, where we discuss the film in more detail.

I’m Jon and thanks for reading this. You can subscribe to my posts by clicking “Follow” in the right sidebar. Or just say hey on Twitter! @JonNegroni

Review: How ‘The Intern’ Became One of My Favorite Movies of the Year

the intern review

The Intern was directed and written by Nancy Meyers, and it stars Robert De Niro, Anne Hathaway, Rene Russo, and a host of other actors you’ll probably recognize. De Niro plays Ben Whittaker, a 70-year-old man in retirement who applies to become a “senior” intern at an online fashion company in New York. He’s assigned to the young and perpetually busy CEO, Jules Ostin, who is played by Anne Hathaway.

Watching the trailers for this, I had low expectations for The Intern. From the outset, it looks like another phoned in De Niro movie devoid of a good story and interesting characters. And to be fair, I’ve never gravitated toward the work of Nancy Meyers, who wrote and directed Something’s Gotta Give and It’s Complicated.

They aren’t terrible movies (well, besides It’s Complicated), but I had a hard time connecting with the older characters in these movies. Jack Nicholson was fine in Something’s Gotta Give, but he didn’t strike me as someone I actually knew in real life going through what he goes through.

In other words, these movies just aren’t that relatable.

the intern review

With The Intern, Meyers has finally delivered a film that gives the audience something endearing to grab onto, no matter your age. This movie is downright charming and pleasant to watch. It’s funny, even though it doesn’t really need to be.

And best of all, the characters in this film have something a lot of 2015 movies have been severely lacking in my opinion: effortless chemistry.

Like this year’s Paddington, these characters come to life best when they’re interacting with each other. Hathaway and De Niro, in particular, fire on all cylinders as two unlikely friends who prove that a movie about platonic relationships can be incredibly interesting.

At one point in the movie, Jules refers to the effect that Ben has on her, citing that she feels calm around him. That’s pretty much how I felt about this movie. It really is the first feel-good film of 2015 that  over-delivers on that description.

the intern review

The Intern isn’t perfect, of course. Some of the laughs are a little screwball, and it suffers almost too much from its sunny vibe and lack of compelling drama (though there’s still plenty in the third act). But this otherwise ho-hum source material is elevated by the believable chemistry of these characters and Meyers’ knack for building memorable atmosphere (she almost makes Brooklyn feel like a small town).

My favorite scene, which I won’t spoil, happens near the end of the movie and involves both of these characters in a very vulnerable state. It’s drawn out on purpose because at the end of it, you see the true emotions coming from one of these characters in a way that hits you in the gut. It’s excellent storytelling that is owed in part to Meyers’ ability to extract honest performances from these seasoned actors.

Some critics will bemoan the lack of diversity or insertion of more relevant social issues. Personally, I think it was for the best that The Intern shied away from these topics because we’re already getting droves of more serious films this fall that address racial politics, transgender rights, and so on. The Intern is a self-contained commentary on what it means to work hard and collect worthwhile experience, even if it is a little fantastical at times. That’s all The Intern needed to be in order to make my day after watching it.

the intern review

Grade: A 

It’s one of my favorite films of the year so far, not because it has a lot to say, but because it does an excellent job saying it. If you’re looking for a movie that will offer a quick escape that will stick with you after watching it, then I can’t recommend this one enough.

If you’ve seen The Intern, let me know what you think in the comments, and be sure to listen to this Sunday’s podcast, where we’ll talk about the movie in more detail.

I’m Jon and thanks for reading this. You can subscribe to my posts by clicking “Follow” in the right sidebar. Or just say hey on Twitter! @JonNegroni

First Thoughts: ‘The Angry Birds Movie’ Trailer

 

Why isn’t this called Angry Birds? Why does it have to be The ANGRY BIRDS Movie? Do they think we can’t remember how played out this game is?

I think the general consensus for this film (so far) falls into two categories: false hope, and badly placed false hope. Some people will watch this trailer with wildly low expectations and walk away from it impressed that it isn’t “as bad” as they thought it would be.

Then there’s the badly placed false hope camp, which is full of people who will consider this movie a success if it manages to be better than the scores of terrible video game movies that include the likes of Super Mario Bros. and, to be more relevant, this year’s Hitman failure.

But that’s grading The Angry Birds Movie trailer (and the eventual movie itself) on a really strange curve. It’s not really a movie based on a video game, after all. In fact, it’s not really live-action. Actually, this movie is based on characters that happen to look like the ones you saw on a mobile game that was popular five years ago.

angry birds movie trailer

That said, it’s also hard to compare The Angry Birds Movie with movies like the new Peanuts coming out soon, or a hybrid of animation like Garfield and The Smurfs. Those movies were made to capitalize on your nostalgia, and I don’t think it’s accurate to consider a touch screen game you played for a few weeks in 2010 something as classic and fondly remembered as the Charlie Brown gang.

Look, I’ll give the studio some credit for taking its time with this movie. They could have easily churned out a shameless cash-grab like the Grumpy Cat disaster that Lifetime thought would be a hit. Instead, we’re seeing what already looks like a pretty gorgeous sequel to Rio with some decent animation. If only that movie didn’t already have a sequel.

Plus, I find it intentionally self-deprecating to choose “Bad” by Michael Jackson to be the song for a movie everyone is expecting to hate. That takes guts.

angry birds movie trailer

If I’m just judging this trailer by its merits, then my only real problem is how they’ve chosen to adapt these characters. True, the game doesn’t give us much to go on, but that doesn’t mean Hollywood needed to transplant these somewhat familiar birds into character roles we’ve already seen a million times before.

They’ve just made the lead, straight, white guy a red bird with legs, essentially. That’s good enough for younger kids, to be sure, but probably not a lot of the older people who also loved the game.

Eventually, we’ll see if the jokes are at least funny, but nothing from this trailer gave me a chuckle. That drawn out scene where we see the red bird slowly building his anger to tackle a sign actually alluded to some interesting character development, but I don’t think it really works as comedy.

Good comedy is when something surprises you and messes with your expectations. But in this case, anyone could guess the joke a full 20 seconds before the punchline.

angry birds movie trailer

But I don’t hate where the movie is going, at least not yet. If they can find a way to make the pigs as eccentrically evil as they were portrayed in the game and actually give us some chaos to sit through, then The Angry Birds Movie could surprise us all. Now that would be a good punchline.

Also, I can’t help but laugh at the fact that Josh Gad and Peter Dinklage are doing ANOTHER movie adaptation of a video game, but with their voices instead of Adam Sandler. What a time to be alive.

I’m Jon and thanks for reading this. You can subscribe to my posts by clicking “Follow” in the right sidebar. Or just say hey on Twitter! @JonNegroni

First Thoughts: ‘The Jungle Book’ Trailer

jungle book trailer

The Jungle Book is Disney’s upcoming live-action remake of the 1967 animated film of the same name. This, of course, is not a surprise due to the successes of Alice in Wonderland and Maleficent. And with 2015’s live-action Cinderella being such a big hit, remaking the last film Walt Disney ever produced was inevitable.

You may not remember this (I certainly didn’t), but Disney already did a live-action remake for this movie in 1994. It borrowed stories from both The Jungle Book and The Second Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling, and it was actually well-received by both audiences and critics. Yet many people still scolded the film for veering so far away from Kipling’s original stories, not that the animated film did a good job of this.

There was also an animated Jungle Book sequel made by DisneyToon (they make the majority of Disney’s direct-to-video movies) in 2003. I’ve never seen it, and I honestly don’t intend to anytime soon. For context, this is the studio that brought us Planes and Planes: Fire and Rescue.

Oh, and I guess I have to mention that the first Jungle Book movie ever came out in the 1940s, decades before Disney got to work on it. Also, an unrelated movie called Jungle Book: Origins will be coming out in 2017, and it’s being made by Andy Serkis and Warner Bros. We honestly don’t have time to get into that, but I will mention that it has a stellar cast.

jungle book trailer

Now, we have the first teaser trailer for Disney’s next retelling of The Jungle Book, and it provides a lot of information that will intrigue longtime fans of the story. Even if you’re not very interested in the Jungle Book franchise, I think you’ll still find something unique to latch onto as we learn more about this movie. It’s the first Disney remake I’ve come across that seems like it could bring something new to the original story.

Sure, Maleficent and Alice and Wonderland already tried this by extending their stories and putting more emphasis on the villains. And they’re not terrible movies or anything. My only issue with them, honestly, is that they feel like unnecessary accessories to an animated movie that’s already great.

But with The Jungle Book, we have a source material that has so much potential as a live-action movie with updated special effects. It will be a visual spectacle just to see these complex animal characters coming to life on the big screen. And since The Jungle Book hasn’t been retold thousands of times over the years (ahem, Cinderella), this new movie will hopefully feel fresh for many people who see it.

Here’s the trailer below, and I encourage you to watch it at least twice. Afterward, we’ll discuss. 

OK, so to start things off, let’s talk about the cast.

Jon Favreau, the director of Iron Man, is helming the film and will probably make a cameo at some point. Mowgli is being played by a newcomer named Neel Sethi, and like the original animated film, he’ll be raised by a family of wolves.

Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad) will voice the alpha male, Akela. Lupita Nyong’o (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) will voice of the mother wolf, Raksha. And the panther, Bagheera, will be voiced by Ben Kingsley (pretty much every movie you’ve ever seen).

Bill Murray is voicing Baloo in this film (yes, that’s the song he’s whistling at the end), and Idris Elba is voicing Shere Khan. When I first heard that Scarlett Johansson would voice the seductively dangerous snake, Kaa, I was less than excited, but she kills it in this trailer as the narrator. And of course, Christopher Walken will be handling the voice of King Louie.

jungle book trailer

I was hoping that this new movie would borrow more from Kipling’s work, and I think this might be the case in some ways. Naturally, Disney is maintaining a lot of what made the original animated film so well-liked, but they seem to be adding some of the darker material that got cut from the original. Pirates of the Caribbean proved that Disney has room for darker and more epic movies, and I hope they apply that here.

So, how is this new film like the old one?

Kaa the snake will apparently be more of a villain who wants to eat Mowgli, at least at first. In the book, she actually saves Mowgli from the Bandar-log after he gets kidnapped, which could also happen here. Pretty much everything related to the Bandar-log and King Louie in this trailer looks more like the animated movie, instead of the book.

Baby Mowgli is found by Bagheera instead of the wolves, just like in the animated movie. And that last scene with Mowgli and Baloo floating down the river is clearly an homage to the 1967 film.

jungle book trailer

But something from the book that appears to be happening in this trailer is Mowgli stealing the “red flower” from the village. He runs across the bridge holding fire, as instructed by King Louie. This could mean that he’s going to fight Shere Khan with the red flower, which is straight out of Compton-er-the book. Toward the end of the trailer, you can see a glimpse of this fight.

It also looks like the film is adding something that neither the book or movie did, which is a fight between Bagheera, Shere Khan, and Baloo. I have absolutely no idea where this is going, so I’m excited to see it go down in the film. It’s the natural progression of the story when you think about it, at least before Mowgli gets his chance to face Shere Khan on his own. Or it could mean that he’s not fighting the tiger alone.

Finally, I want to point out that the look of many of these characters is coming from the book, which is a great thing. This includes Baloo, who is now a brown bear instead of the bluish grey bear from the movie. And Hathi, the old elephant, appears more like the domineering and wise character that the Kipling story portrays. He’s not supposed to be comic relief, like we see in the 1967 film, which I think they added because they already had so many know-it-all animals running around in the script.

jungle book trailer

Like I said before, the movie is so far coming off as darker and more epic than the animated film. That said, some people who’ve seen footage of the movie at D23 claim that it’s actually light-hearted, so this trailer might be a little misleading. Whether that’s a good or bad thing is up to you.

I don’t know how I feel about this film yet. On the one hand, it’s cool to see that they’re breaking away from the music numbers and treating the source material more seriously. But I’m worried this will take away what people loved about the classic film in the first place. I guess we’ll have to trust that Disney can surprise us once again with something that fits comfortably in the middle.

The Jungle Book opens in theaters, April 2016.

I’m Jon and thanks for reading this. You can subscribe to my posts by clicking “Follow” in the right sidebar. Or just say hey on Twitter! @JonNegroni

Review: ‘The Visit’ Is Laugh Out Loud Horror

the visit review

The Visit was written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan and stars Olivia DeJonge from Good Pretender and Ed Oxenbould from Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. Yes, I remembered the whole title without looking it up.

For the first time in years, Shyamalan has come back to do a film more closely related to horror, though not fully. And he’s partnered with the “it” horror studio right now, Blumhouse, who’ve found massive financial (and some critical) success with the Insidious and Paranormal Activity franchises.

In this found-footage movie, DeJonge and Oxenbould play a brother and sister who spend a week with their estranged grandparents — whom they’ve never met — in rural Pennsylvania. But the more time they spend with their grandparents, the more these kids realize that something very disturbing is going on with them.

the visit review

No one loves you like your grandparents.

The film cleverly prolongs the eery situation by passing off the blame to the grandparents’ old age and an affliction known as sundowning. And most people watching this movie will fall under the same spell as they try to make it through this bizarre week alongside the kids.

One thing I have to give the movie praise for is actually two things: the children. DeJonge and Oxenbould are a lot of fun to watch together, and their characters are incredibly entertaining. DeJonge plays a young teen named Becca, who wants to create a documentary about the visit (hence the explanation for why this is a found-footage movie).

Her goal is to reconcile the relationship between her mother and these grandparents, and if you read enough into it, you can actually hear Shyamalan sending a message to his fans in this way. Trust me, it’s not very subtle.

the visit review

Mom, there’s something wrong with nana and papa.

And throughout the film, you can see Shyamalan’s clever nods to filmmaking through Becca’s eyes as she sets up elaborate shots and conducts interviews with her family. It’s a nice touch to her character that pays off and adds some weight to why we should care about her. The brother, too, has a consistent story arc that is grounded in a 13-year-old boy I’m sure I’ve met before.

Even though these kids can get a bit obnoxious and half-minded, they’re never annoying. And that’s saying something considering the amount of scenes that display Tyler (Ed Oxenbould) rapping. It’s just silly enough to maintain the movie’s unique tone, which is an unexpectedly good mix of humor and horror.

That said, I’m not sure the humor/horror hybrid will work for all audiences. Some people just want straight up comedy, and some people want full-on horror or drama. Other movies that walk this line, like the excellent Drag Me To Hell, have a knack for polarizing audiences. And I have a feeling that people going into The Visit expecting another bad M. Night Shyamalan movie won’t know what to make of the film. At least until the third act.

the visit review

Would you mind getting inside the oven to clean it?

While the movie is certainly entertaining, I was more sucked into the atmosphere and characters than the actual story. There weren’t enough thrills or even scares to justify where the script goes, and a lot of the jokes end up falling flat. But these flaws all surround excellent moments and performances that should hold your attention and perhaps surprise you.

Is it worth watching a second time? Well, it’s been a day since I’ve seen this movie, and I already want to watch it again. And I’ll probably see it several more times, in fact. Yes, it will be fun to rewatch the movie to see it from a new perspective and all that. But honestly, I just love these characters and want to revisit their thrilling adventure.

Grade: A-

Of course, it’s great to see Shyamalan returning to the genre that made him a household name. And while this movie is somewhat flawed, I bumped its grade up on the merit of how much I want to see it again. Overall, I consider that the most impressive achievement on the part of the filmmakers.

I’m Jon and thanks for reading this. You can subscribe to my posts by clicking “Follow” in the right sidebar. Or just say hey on Twitter! @JonNegroni

The ‘Divergent’ Series Is Actually Being Smart About Its Final Two Movies. Almost.

ascendant divergent

I could be wrong about this, but I’m pretty sure we have Harry Potter (and Warner Bros) to thank for this “one book stretched into two movies” trend that has taken over mainstream YA cinema.

Hunger Games did it, Twilight did it, and Percy Jackson would have probably done it if enough people went to see Sea of Monsters. And as you no doubt expected, The Divergent Series is doing it, too.

But rather than go with the normal convention to give both movies the same name as the book with just a “Part 1” and “Part 2” tacked on, the studio (Summit Entertainment) has chosen to rename the fourth movie.

As someone who is fed up with the marketing tactics of YA movies, I think this is a smart move and hope it catches on with book-to-movie franchises I actually want to watch. And to be fair, Summit is likely taking a cue from how poorly received Mockingjay: Part 1 was, which made $100 million less than Catching Fire. This happened in part because even the name of the movie went out of its way to let you know that this was more of a setup, not a sequel.

ascendant divergent

So the next film in the Divergent franchise will be called The Divergent Series: Allegiant, which is the name of the book plus the annoying descriptive phrase preceding it because apparently Hollywood doesn’t have enough faith in our short-term memory and hates fitting the actual name of the movie on a ticket stub. Regardless, there’s no “Part 1” because…

The fourth movie will now be called The Divergent Series: Ascendant, which betrays the “gent” branding they’ve worked so little to make us work for. Still, it’s a big deal that they’re willing to rename the second half of a book. Can you imagine the uproar if The Deathly Hallows had been replaced with something like Harry Potter: and the Surprising Addition of Neville Longbottom as a Critical Character? Actually, that sounds about right.

 

What’s even more barely interesting is their choice in visual marketing. If you take a close look at the Allegiant poster, you’ll see the same symbols from the cover of the book. That makes sense. But then look at the Ascendant image right next to it.

divergent ascendant

Seriously, Summit? You couldn’t vary the posters just a little bit? Sure, the symbols are different, but literally no effort was made to provide a distinction between the two movies. You might as well revert the naming format if you’re going to market them as…well, Part 1 and Part 2.

To be fair, I’m not saying the posters look bad. It’s just a little jarring when you see the math formula behind this franchise’s marketing so overtly, as opposed to gently obvious.

This is actually a great representation for my main issue with this franchise, which is how annoyingly planned this world comes off as. It obeys every trope in the YA handbook, it treats its release dates with unrelenting precision and predictability, and the movies themselves are just a checklist/gift bag of meticulous things you’ve already seen in other movies, only better.

I’m not just picking on Divergent, of course. Marvel and D.C. deserve a lot more flack (especially Marvel at this point) for how willing they are to lay out the next ten years of superhero movies they plan to do on a timeline, eliminating all of the mystery and guessing for what comes next. It’s all just become such a boring science.

ascendant divergent

Anyway, Allegiant and Ascendant also have new tailgates that shouldn’t surprise anyone with their blandness. Allegiant is simply “break the boundaries of your world” and Ascendant is “the end is never what you expect.” Except, I’ve already read the books, and unless they’re changing the ending for the movies, you’re going to expect it…and not in a good way.

 

Robert Schwentke — who directed the nearly unwatchable Insurgent (in my opinion) — is helming both Allegiant and Ascendant, which makes me strongly reconsider finishing this franchise. The Divergent Series: Allegiant will open on March 18, 2016, followed by The Divergent Series: Ascendant a year later on March 24, 2017.

Source: MTV