Synopsis

With Janine dead and Chicago in chaos, the faction system has been destroyed and its leaders are at odds over what to do next. Evelyn begins holding trials for the conspirators that slaughtered innocent citizens but Tris and Four want no part of mob rule. They decide to escape in hopes of finding salvation outside the wall. They discover a toxic wasteland and just before they are consumed by it, a mysterious group of soldiers picks them up. After arriving in a city built on the ruins of O’Hare Airport, the truth is revealed. Chicago is an experiment in human genetics and it seems the mistakes that destroyed society once before are being repeated. Director David decides to resolve the city’s issues by violent means giving Tris and Four only hours to prevent total devastation.

Allegiant - Blu-Ray Movie Review

Specifications
Allegiant - Movie Cover
Lionsgate Films
2016, Color, Rated PG-13, 2 Hrs 1 min
Dolby Atmos/TrueHD 7.1, 2.40:1 Aspect Ratio
Starring: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Jeff Daniels
Directed by Robert Schwentke

Rating

Entertainment
Video:
Audio:
Extras:

Violence: Yes
Sex: No
Language: No

Allegiant - Blu-Ray Review

Commentary

The Divergent trilogy has often been compared to The Hunger Games but this first half of the final chapter seems to bring the plot more in line with The Maze Runner. There is also a lot of symbolism relevant to the issues we’re facing today. Namely that society is divided between those that embrace diversity and those that fear it. The group that runs Chicago even has an ivory tower. How’s that for cliché?

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The hero/heroine comparison between Tris and Katniss falls apart a bit in this film. Tris spends quite a bit of time believing what she wants to while Four maintains a stronger sense of dread and mistrust. It doesn’t take long for her to realize the truth and then she steps up admirably to lead a resolution. Shailene Woodley seems a little less-enthused this time around and much of her dialog felt phoned-in. Theo Henry as Four really carries the plot as he continues his role alternating between wise counsel and invincible soldier.

Action scenes and special effects are the most fun part of Allegiant and it seems no expense was spared. There is some truly remarkable CGI used here and all the physics are portrayed with complete believability.

Allegiant - Blu-Ray Movie

Of course we still have one film to go even though this one could almost stand as the final chapter. There are a few dangling plot threads to resolve though it’s hard to imagine how that will fill up two hours. Allegiant certainly qualifies as a fun action flick and fans of the series will certainly want to watch the story as it approaches its final conclusion.

Technical

The image is stunning in every respect. While many other post-apocalypse movies resort to grit, grime and monochromatic tones to portray a dead world, Allegiant isn’t afraid to use bold vivid colors and deep contrast. Detail is about as sharp as it could possibly be and I couldn’t find a single flaw. This is truly one of the best-looking movies I’ve seen of late.

Allegiant - Movie Review

Audio is equally impactful courtesy of a well-mixed Dolby Atmos soundtrack. I experienced the TrueHD core encode in a 5.1 setup but that didn’t reduce the sense of immersion or shrink the massive soundstage. You can’t really play this one too loud. It’s so clean that I can’t imagine where the distortion would begin; certainly beyond a safe volume limit.

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One note to Oppo BDP-93 owners – I had to switch output to LPCM to work around a sound cutout issue. There seems to be some glitch present when the bitstream option is used. I don’t know if this will occur with other Blu-ray players. Perhaps I’m in need of a firmware update.

Extras

Bonus features total around 45 minutes and include behind-the scenes footage, interviews with cast and crew members, info on visual effects and story adaptation and a look ahead to the final film which debuts next year. Full audio commentary from two producers is also available.