The word "insurgent" means to actively revolt, implying some distinctiveness that sets its participants apart from the norm. Ironically, the film Insurgent, a faded photocopy of other teen- scifi-dramas, doesn't have a single unique bone in its body. Not that it's aggressively terrible. There are some decent scifi elements and even a couple of mildly intriguing moments. But like clockwork, every slight turn for the better is quickly overwhelmed by extreme boredom. Like a forgettable SyFy channel series masquerading as a blockbuster film, Insurgent is simply a dull and uninteresting sequel. That word "sequel" should connote a progression of sorts, but no. As little as I remember about the previous entry in the Divergent Series, I can tell you this: shaky cam action scenes, bloviating about "special ones", and constant fighting for the McGuffin-of-the- week were the focus and are still in full form here. At the center is Woodley, an actress with a whole heckuva lot of talent that simply doesn't have the presence of strength to carry this sort of role. She presents a microcosm problem for an entire film full of great actors terribly miscast. Teller and Elgort manage some natural charisma and charm from their otherwise absent characters, Watts and Spencer are all but completely missing, and Winslet is just plain wasted. It's none of their fault; they just can't make the embarrassingly constant melodrama palatable. Even if it was laughably bad there might be something to cling to, but it's not bold enough to even warrant that reaction. Insurgent only serves as a lame, achingly dull placeholder until the next Hunger Games installment.
