I didn’t dislike “Insurgent” as much as some other critics out there, but I do feel like this sequel in the YA “Divergent” series suffers from middle-child syndrome. “Divergent” did a great job at introducing a dystopian world, where a girl named Tris (Shailene Woodley) finds out she’s dangerous because she’s divergent, aka can’t be pigeon-holed. In “Insurgent,” Tris and her small band of allies are now on the run from those who want her, and all like her, dead, but not before they force Tris to open a mysterious box that could explain the whole reason for their existence. As exciting as that may sound, it really isn’t, despite some well-done action sequences. Woodley and Kate Winslet, who plays Tris’ nemesis, do their best to raise the bar, but “Insurgent” still fails to stand out.
Listen to more of my review with the ScreenPicks gang, plus, I talk about Sean Penn’s first real action movie “The Gunman.”