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The Divergent Series: Allegiant the good and the bad

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8 years ago

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Release date: March 18, 2016
Studio: Summit Entertainment (Lionsgate)
Director: Robert Schwentke
Rating: PG-13 (for intense violence and action, thematic elements, and some partial nudity)
Screenwriters: Noah Oppenheim, Adam Cooper, Bill Collage , Stephen Chbosky
Starring: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Octavia Spencer, Naomi Watts, Jeff Daniels, Ray Stevenson, Zoe Kravitz, Miles Teller, Ansel Elgort, Maggie Q, Keiynan Lonsdale, Jonny Weston, Mekhi Phifer, Daniel Dae Kim, Nadia Hilker, Bill Skarsgård
Genre: Action, Adventure

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3 Books 4 movies. A familiar recipe these days. Inevitably Hollywood stretches out the payday by stretching out the life span of popular franchises, making 2 films when 1 would suffice. And there are times when this reviewer, loves that! More time with the beloved characters I’ve lived with first on the page and now on the screen? Sign me up! But this strategy may backfire for Allegiant and the Divergent Film Franchise.

Allegiant Alienates. In the previous films, “Divergent” & “Insurgent”, the viewer could find someway to relate to the characters and therefore feel invested in their journey. At the heart of the previous films was a coming of age story about a young woman’s journey to self discovery while navigating her way through the complication’s of life’s social contracts: family, friendship, and faction! All while battling a clear enemy, amidst an action filled, science-fiction dystopian backdrop. And backdrop may be the key word. In Allegiant the “world beyond the wall” and the film’s “big ideas” overshadow the characters and any personal story that could entice the viewer to care about their journey. What Allegiant lacks in character and relationship development it attempts to make up in heavy-handed special effects. The special effects previously used in the series always seemed properly motivated. For instance, the characters were in a simulation and special effects seamlessly transitioned the viewer into that nightmarish simulation where the line between reality and illusion blurred. Or there were the little touches here and there to visually signal to the viewer that the world the characters live in is the same world we do, just many years in the future. Instead, the special effects in Allegiant depict a world that looks nothing like our own. Whether it’s David’s office at the Bureau or a radioactive wasteland. much of the film looks like it came right out of a computer, which further removes the viewer in my opinion.

Without the enjoyable distraction of rich interpersonal character relationships, the viewer quickly becomes all too aware of the story’s shortcomings. Not only did the long standing character relationships suffer, but the new characters introduced in Allegiant, like Matthew and Nita, come and go without consequence. We know nothing about them other than that they seem to conveniently fulfill plot needs. Ultimately, the attempted sucker punch storyline – that of the Tris-Four relationship – puts entirely too much pressure upon the importance of a lovers spat. From the first signs of trouble in the Tris-Four relationship the viewer knows that it’s a rough patch and that the couple will get through it. The stakes are low, and there is no sense of relief when the couple finally reunites. The characters and the audience alike go through the motions, wading our way through the inevitable. Even the “big idea” of the film, to accept and embrace one another’s differences, while noble, ends up feeling hollow.

Sadly I could not suspend my belief enough to buy into Allegiant. Our heroes may have scaled the giant wall at the start of the film, but for the better part of 120 minutes I still felt like I was on an uphill climb without reprieve. On the upside, I trust that the final installment of the series, Ascendant, will return some of the heart that was lost in Allegiant.

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Paramount+ Reveals Official Main Title Sequence for the Upcoming Series TALES OF THE TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES

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18 hours ago

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July 26, 2024

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During the TALES OF THE TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES panel earlier today at San Diego Comic Con, Paramount+ revealed the official main title sequence for the series. The sequence is composed by EMMY® nominee, Matt Mahaffey, known for his work on Sanjay and Craig, Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie and much more. 

From the studios of the Mutant Mayhem film, the all-new Paramount+ original series TALES OF THE TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES explores the adventures of everyone’s favorite pizza-loving heroes as they emerge from the sewers onto the streets of NYC. Leo, Raph, Donnie and Mikey are faced with new threats and team up with old allies to survive both teenage life and villains lurking in the shadows of the Big Apple. The series is produced by Nickelodeon Animation and Point Grey Pictures.

TALES OF THE TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES is executive produced by Chris Yost (The Mandalorian, Thor: Ragnarok) and Alan Wan (Blue Eye Samurai, Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles [2012 Series]). Production is overseen for Nickelodeon by Claudia Spinelli, Senior Vice President, TV Series Animation, Nickelodeon, and Nikki Price, Director of Development and Executive in Charge of Production.

In addition to the upcoming new series, stream all things Turtles on Paramount+.

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Comic-Con 2024: Those About to Die Activation

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21 hours ago

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July 26, 2024

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DISNEY+ CASTS DANIEL DIEMER AS FAN-FAVORITE ‘TYSON’IN SEASON TWO OF “PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS”

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21 hours ago

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July 26, 2024

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 in Hall H at San Diego Comic-Con, Rick Riordan and Disney+ revealed that Daniel Diemer (“Under the Bridge”) will star as fan-favorite cyclops “Tyson” in the epic adventure series “Percy Jackson and the Olympians.” Diemer joins Walker Scobell (Percy Jackson), Leah Sava Jeffries (Annabeth Chase) and Aryan Simhadri (Grover Underwood) as a series regular. The Disney+ Original series from Disney Branded Television and 20th Television will start filming its second season next week in Vancouver.

Season two of “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” is based on the second installment of Disney Hyperion’s best-selling book series titled “The Sea of Monsters” by award-winning author Rick Riordan. In the new season, Percy Jackson returns to Camp Half-Blood one year later to find his world turned upside down. His friendship with Annabeth is changing, he learns he has a cyclops for a brother, Grover has gone missing, and camp is under siege from the forces of Kronos. Percy’s journey to set things right will take him off the map and into the deadly Sea of Monsters, where a secret fate awaits the son of Poseidon.

Diemer stars as Tyson – a young Cyclops who grew up all alone on the streets, and finds it difficult to survive in the human world.  Shy and awkward, with a heart almost as big as he is, Tyson soon discovers that Poseidon is his father, which means Percy Jackson is his half-brother… and that Tyson may have finally found a home. 

Diemer recently starred in the Hulu limited series “Under the Bridge” based off the critically acclaimed book of the same name and a tragic true story of a missing teen girl in Vancouver in 1997. He will next star in the indie “Thug” opposite Liam Neeson and Ron Perlman for director Hans Petter Moland. Daniel was recently seen as the lead in the indie “Supercell” opposite Alec Baldwin and Skeet Ulrich and the lead in the film “Little Brother” opposite Phil Ettinger and JK Simmons. Daniel can also be seen in the Netflix series “The Midnight Club” and recently starred as the male lead in the breakout hit Netflix feature “The Half Of It” from producer Anthony Bregman and director Alice Wu. He is a graduate of Victoria Academy of Dramatic Arts in Vancouver.

Created by Rick Riordan and Jonathan E. Steinberg, season two of “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” is executive produced by Steinberg and Dan Shotz alongside Rick Riordan, Rebecca Riordan, Craig Silverstein, The Gotham Group’s Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, Bert Salke, The Gotham Group’s Jeremy Bell and D.J. Goldberg, James Bobin, Jim Rowe, Albert Kim, Jason Ensler and Sarah Watson.

The first season of “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” is available on Disney+

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