Insurgent: The good, the bad, and the Hunger Games

Within the first ten minutes of Insurgent, a group of outsiders run into a non-cultish “peace and love” community, plot to kill a crazy lady trying to rule a post-apocalyptic society, and then get kicked out by Octavia Spencer.  We also see the main character chop her hair off to sport a Lena Dunham-esque pixie cut and a genius man decide that jumping in front of a speeding train is a brilliant way not to die.

These were just a few of the moments that made me think, This movie is definitely and completely sane.  Other moments made me think, This is not at all similar to The Hunger Games.

After all, the plot of Insurgent is just a strong female lead using her physical and mental strength to overthrow an oppressive government that has separated people into different groups and forced them to partake in only one activity for the rest of their lives. While doing this, there is a constant recurrence of a bird motif and mass amounts of people who gather behind the female lead to help overthrow their government.  None of that happened in The Hunger Games . . .

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If you decide to go see Insurgent, it would be wise to see Divergent before you go. If you have seen Divergent, you know that there are many simulations in which characters have to conquer random scenarios after they fall into a weird mystical sedation. It’s basically like a virtual video game where you have to complete a bunch of crazy and terrifying tasks, and where the fate of the entire world rests on your shoulders.

This same thing happens in Insurgent throughout the movie. So much so, that it’s basically as if half of the movie is not actually happening because it is literally a bunch of events that are only in people’s minds. Without these psychedelic simulations, the movie would be much more confusing and a lot less entertaining.

And finally, while most of the scenes were at least filmed in a manner that allowed for the audience to remember that this is an intense action movie, there were some scenes that were not so much like this. One scene in particular towards the end was so overly dramatic, it almost seemed to be a joke. It reminded me of the only clip I have seen from The Interview in which Kim Jong Un gets blown from a helicopter to Katy Perry’s song, “Firework.”

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Parts of the ending were too predictable, and other parts led me to dislike the premise of the entire trilogy. Overall, however, the movie was filled with action and kept the audience thoroughly engaged. I now have a handful of questions, but I find that to be a good thing considering that this was only the second movie in the trilogy.

As much as there were parallels between The Hunger Games and an unfathomable amount of confusion during the psychedelic occurrences, I must admit that the movie never left me with the when will this be over? feeling. I would not tell you to go out right now and watch the movie as soon as you can, as it definitely was not the best movie ever produced. However, if you are bored and have $10 to spare, I wouldn’t discourage it.