I remember reading the Veronica Roth’s Divergent series several years ago, and thinking, “Oh my gosh! This is the next Hunger Games!” And sure enough, Hollywood thought so too. Film rights were purchased, and the up and coming Shailene Woodley was cast as heroine Tris Prior, the plucky girl who attempts to liberate an entire city from a rather original dystopian bondage.

Allegiant follows last years Insurgent, and is the penultimate installment in this film franchise. As you do with trilogies these days, they have divided the last book in two to prolong the suspense, the love, and the profit. Now the first installment of the last book is usually a mere placeholder, with little significant action. It’s usually all about the setup for the finale. But fear not! The filmmakers have done an excellent job of putting plenty of substance into this meaty appetizer, not the least of which is turning up the previously smoldering heat between Tris and Four (Theo James).

There is both confusion and hope in Allegiant. Those who haven’t read the books might have a hard time following along, and those who have will spend a lot of time wondering, “Wait a minute! Where did that come from? I don’t remember it in the book!” Allegiant digresses wildly from the source material. Some characters are completely eliminated, and brand new plot points are introduced. I will say the world beyond the wall that the filmmakers created is far more visually interesting and complicated than anything I’d conjured up in my head.

And while this script is not exactly true to the source material, it does give one hope that the ultimate ending might be divergent as well. Don’t worry — I’m not going to spoil it. Suffice it to say that I was satisfied with the extremely gutsy finish to the book series, but the vast majority of readers were not. The film version of Allegiant gives one hope that Hollywood will come up with its own Hollywood ending, and fans of the series just might get the finale they’ve been craving.

Rated PG-13

2 Hours 19 Minutes

Get times and tickets at Fandango.com.

https://youtu.be/0G0C-vMHcQY

ALLEGIANT Review — A Diversion From Divergent