Allegiant picks up where the last movie left off. The city of Chicago has received a message from beyond the walls, inviting the citizens to venture outside. But the new regime is intent on keeping order, locking the city down while executing the allies of the former leaders. This doesn't sit well with Tris (Shailene Woodley), who was instrumental in toppling the former regime. She and a select group of allies sneak out of the city in order to learn the truth about their world. But Tris and her friends soon find that the forces beyond the wall may not be their salvation.
This entire movie doesn't make a whole lot of sense. In fact, some of its revelations affect the logic of previous movies, making them a little harder to swallow. The film exhibits the earmarks of a story that wasn't adequately thought through. Some of it feels like it being made up on the fly, the details contrived as it goes along, regardless of how it fits in the bigger picture. There are bits of it that are kind of intriguing from a sci-fi standpoint, certain scenes that showcase a fascinating technological vision. But this movie as a whole just doesn't stand up to any scrutiny.
The film ends up revealing that there are forces that are actually in control of the situation in Chicago, that the people in the city, without their knowing, are beholden to the whims of a certain group beyond the walls. This, on a very basic conceptual level, is problematic for the story. This group deems Tris to be incredibly important, and if they actually had control of the city, then the events of the previous installments of this story are completely illogical. The goals of the group require the survival of Tris, and it seems really strange that they allowed her to be put in so much danger.
This question of control keeps popping up throughout this film. It just seems like the villains of this piece are incredibly bad at keeping control. Tris and her friends don't have to do anything extraordinary to find out the truth about their new situation. Their new antagonists, who are later shown to have the ability to just make them comply with their wishes, seem to allow them free reign to discover the more sinister elements of their organization. If a hero is judged by the quality of their villains, then this movie makes Tris out to be a pretty lame hero.
The movie ends up feeling really sluggish, each new revelation eroding the overall logic of the story. It's best moments are visual, the movie coming to life when it's made to show off the technological level of life outside the walls. The visual effects aren't the greatest, but they're put to good enough use in realizing this story's vision of advanced technology. Shailene Woodley is still mostly all right as Tris, but the actress is cornered into a more passive role in this story. She doesn't really have all that much to do.
Allegiant ends with the promise of more. It's tough to see the value of another movie at this point. Within the framework of the revelations of this movie, it's tough to see why any of this should still be an issue. But the film contrives an antagonist that seems incapable of being a genuine threat. And so, this all continues pointlessly, the characters trudging through a world that refuses to make any sense, facing little real danger along the way, even though it is established that the villain has full control of everything. The promise of more interesting sci-fi tech isn’t enough to justify another movie. We don't need to know what happens next.
My Rating:
