On Monday, I shared with you my general feelings on the official Divergent trailer. It was KILLING ME that I had to wait until later in the week to fully discuss with you guys (even though we have previously discussed some sneak-peek footage). Yesterday, the factions were finally unleashed upon the world at large.
Which means, fellow FYA scientists, that the time has come to once again don our safety goggles and snap on our latex gloves. But please—do be careful with the scalpels! They can be very sharp.
(Also, please try to refrain from any Allegiant spoilers in the discussion for anyone who might not have finished it yet.)
First, let us examine the subject as a whole:
I’m trusting that you took notes, yes? Those will come in handy later, but let’s put our pencils down for the moment and concentrate on a couple a handful a whole bunch of specific scenes.
0:12 – That’s a lovely bun. Mama Prior’s got skills.
0:13 – Speak of the devil! Hello Natalie (Ashley Judd).
0:17 – This shot is so perfectly Abnegation. The muted grey clothes, the mirror cover, the fact that Tris (Shailene Woodley) doesn’t want to look into it immediately.
0:21 – Chicago doesn’t actually look as dilapidated as I expected it to from far away.
0:24 – You look good in blue, Jeanine (Kate Winslet). But I feel like you belong more in pink.
0:25 – A few individuals seem to be missing from this gathering …
0:28 – Oh, there you are Dauntless. ALWAYS gotta make a flashy entrance, don’t you.
0:32 – I think Tris likes what she sees. (Side note: I’m sure they were going for the natural look, but that seems like an awful lot of makeup for an Abnegation. Not that she doesn’t look lovely, but I was expecting more of a very plain Jane. Also, does this mean we have to deal with a Divergent branded line of mascara?)
0:34 – This is one of my most favorite scenes in the whole trailer. I love how distinct each color is. It makes such an impact! (But does Veronica Roth have something against green?)
0:36 – Hullo, Priors! This would make a lovely Christmas card photo, were Abnegation families to have such things.
0:41 – Tori (Maggie Q) gets Tris ready to start the rest of her life …
0:45 – But then Tris is all of a sudden in Dauntless gear? There’s some continuity switcheroos happening, it seems.
0:53 – Be careful Tris …
0:54 – Oh, great. Now you’ve done it. Who’s going to clean up that mess?
1:04 – “Yer a wizard, Harry.” (Also: MAGGIE Q. WHY ARE YOU SO GORGEOUS?)
1:05 – “Say whut?”
1:11 – Mekhi Phifer! I’d forgotten you were in this movie. (He’s playing Max, in case any of you forgot, too.)
1:14 – That jump seems pretty daunt-ing. (*ba dum tss*)
1:16 – Shailene makes some seriously amazing faces in this trailer. Here, I can physically feel her aversion to jumping off the roof and into the hole. She has no idea what to expect when she gets down there …
1:21 – But I’m pretty sure she’s pleasantly surprised with this welcome to Dauntless.
1:22 – See what I mean about the faces? Perfect.
1:28 – Here’s our first glimpse of Tris’ training class, plus Eric (Jai Courtney), who I think is standing third from the right? Christina (Zoë Kravitz) is definitely in the bottom right corner. Perhaps that’s Will (Ben Lloyd-Hughes) standing next to her.
1:32 – OK, seriously. That’s one of the worst punches I’ve ever seen. Who hits a punching bag with the front of their fist?
1:34 – Oh, I see. You’re smarter than you look, Tris Prior.
1:38 – The first few times I watched the trailer, I didn’t realize who else was in this scene other than Four. (Can you blame me?) But now that I take a closer look, I can see Will, Zoë, Eric and Peter (Miles Teller) hanging about, too. Any ideas on who else in in the background?
1:39 – Even YA movies are using Big Face these days.
1:46 – It’s good to know that even in the dystopian future, tattoo artists are careful to be sanitary.
1:50 – “It’s been a long time since I trusted anyone,” says Four (Theo James). In a crowd of people who can hear every word he says.
1:55 – That’s a gorgeous tattoo, but dang those large areas of solid black had to HURT.
2:05 – I never quite understood the train jumping thing, other it being a Dauntless way of proving their bravery/skills. All I know for sure (unless someone can enlighten me below) is that they all must have CRAZY strong arm muscles. No chicken wings there!
2:11 – Bad boys, bad boys …
2:13 – This scene makes Dauntless HQ seem a whole lot lighter (literally) than I expected it to be. I always imagined it practically completely dark unless the lights were on. Also, that ravine is way deeper than I expected, which makes this scene all that much more frightening. This was such a split-second clip that I nearly missed it; I’m sure it’ll be even more powerful with the sound of the water rushing by underneath in the full film.
2:14 – The hands-on (*wink, wink, nudge, nudge*) training Four is giving Tris is obviously working.
2:16 – Yay for the Ferris Wheel!
2:17 – And whoa, is that Four fighting Marcus (Ray Stevenson)? (Or, rather, Marcuses plural.)
2:18 – It’s probably bad that my first thought is “I don’t remember them ever kissing on a balcony” rather than “ooh, yay, the kissy parts!”
2:22 – HOLY EFF, that would be a scary zipline trip.
Maaaan. That was a whole lot packed into two and a half minutes. (You’ll have to forgive me for going overboard … this is my first HSA, and I got a bit carried away!) I feel like the trailer gives us a whole lot of content, but will people who’ve never read the book feel the same way? Also—and I’ve gone on record saying this before—but I am just not feeling the chemistry between Tris (Shailene) and Four (Theo). Even with the snuggly scenes, it still doesn’t feel quite right. I’m hoping the movie experience will make it better/prove me wrong.
As far as the trailer goes, even after watching it a few times, I’m still not entirely sure what’s real or what’s simulation, where/when a lot of the action takes place, or if I’m excited or a little apprehensive. Why don’t you pull out your notes and leave your brilliant observations and enlightened hypotheses in the comments below? Help me figure out the science behind it all.
