“Divergent,” the newest dystopian adventure to hit the box office, strictly follows the predictable young adult (YA) movie formula that we have all come to expect. Throw in a rebellious heroine, a hot romantic interest, some adrenaline-fueled fighting scenes, a totalitarian government and a whole lot of teenage angst and you’ve got “Divergent,” the newest cookie-cutter, YA movie franchise.

In this futuristic, dystopian film, society is divided into five factions based on virtue. When it is her turn to choose the faction that she belongs to, Tris Prior (Shailene Woodley) discovers that she is Divergent and cannot be categorized into a single faction. However, as Tris uncovers the conflict brewing under the government’s seemingly perfect facade, she finds that her inability to conform could be either her only hope for survival or her undoing in a world ruled by conformity.

It is difficult not to compare “Divergent” to “The Hunger Games” because both follow the traditional, now overdone YA format. However, “Divergent” does not fare well when pitted against “The Hunger Games.” While “The Hunger Games” is passable for viewers who are not familiar with its source material, “Divergent” lacks the insight into characters and plot that the book has and, thus, leaves viewers who have not read the book confused and dissatisfied.

Additionally, although one cannot deny the talents of Shailene Woodley, she cannot hold a candle to Jennifer Lawrence’s portrayal of Katniss in “The Hunger Games.” Woodley fails to stay true to her character while at the same time remaining likable and relatable to the audience, like Lawrence managed to do as Katniss. Woodley jumps through the hoops and manages to fairly convincingly portray Tris, but, in doing so, she severs the connection between audience members and the heroine and turns Tris into a boring, unlikable character. Consequently, the screaming teenage fans will not feel the same connection to the movie version of Tris as they did with their beloved literary heroine.

Director Neil Burger also fails to effectively reinvent the setting in order to distance it from the worlds of other YA franchises such as “The Hunger Games.” The atmosphere is too familiar and dull, and it does not help that the setting also feels artificial and mechanical. Additionally, the narration at the beginning and end are lazy ways of providing the meager background and ending for the story and fail to initially capture the audience’s attention.

All in all, the movie stayed fairly true to the book except for the fact that many of the key events were glossed over in a spur of action and restrained violence. The fast pace of the movie results in these key elements of the plot to be merely caught up in the action and, ergo, to lose their weight throughout the course of the movie. Therefore, “Divergent” unfortunately sacrifices plot in order to follow the fast-paced excitement of the typical YA movie. Additionally, the supporting characters, who were so distinct and appealing in the book, tend to blend into the background due to the rushed character development and plot of the movie. The romance also suffered from the rushed presentation as Tris and her romantic interest Four (Theo James) fail to smoothly transition from their teacher-student relationship to a romantic one as they did in the book. The consequence of this was a thin, borderline uncomfortable, romance between the two heroes.

“Divergent,” although superficially faithful to its source material, is unable to escape the confines of the typical YA movie format. Rushed, unfocused and unoriginal, “Divergent” fails to capture the appeal of the book’s original plot and characters and, instead, creates a forgettable, jumbled mess.

My conclusion: 5/10