The Destiny - Allegiant

Jeanine is dead and Evelyn (Naomi Watts) has taken her place. By all rights, things should be better now in Chicago. But the opposite is the case: there are executions, hatred and oppression. Tris (Shailene Woodley) and Four (Theo James) know that the only way they can make a difference is to escape the city and find out what lies behind the walls. Together with Caleb (Ansel Elgort), Christina (Zoë Kravitz) and Peter (Miles Teller), they make a spectacular escape. But when they find what they've been looking for, it soon becomes clear that there's a much greater danger lurking here that could cost the lives of everyone in Chicago - everyone except Tris.

The Destiny - Allegiant is the third of the four-film adaptation of Veronica Roth's popular trilogy of novels. As with Part 2, Robert Schwentke (Flightplan, R.E.D. 2) was once again behind the camera. And also otherwise the team remained the same for long stretches. So it was to be hoped that the third film would be as satisfying as its two predecessors. Especially since with Jeff Daniels another first-class actor could be won for an important supporting role. But unfortunately the hopes are not fulfilled. The Destiny - Allegiant is an enormous disappointment in many aspects. As with the film adaptation of the last volume of the Tribute to Panem trilogy, splitting the final volume in two doesn't really prove to be a wise decision. It creates too many unnecessary lengths, which here even rub off on the scenes that are supposed to be full of action.

The dialogue, which wasn't exactly award-worthy in the first two films either, reveals even more weaknesses here, which also underscores the enormous predictability of the dramaturgy. It's never a good sign when you as a viewer can speak along with the dialogues or know exactly what follows typical cliché statements. That wouldn't be a bad thing, though, if the rest of the film's aspects were convincing. But even here there is only little positive to report. The actors seem a bit bored at times and the visuals - one of the great strengths of the first film in particular - also disappoint. Especially with some special effects it seems as if the makers didn't have enough time to really finish them. Too often you can clearly see that the actors were acting in front of a green screen. And when Tris, Four and the others are flown around the radioactively contaminated land in safe bubbles, it doesn't look impressive, but rather unintentionally funny.

It's certainly not easy to put together two big effects blockbusters within two years. That there may be qualitative limitations in the process may be tolerable in some respects. But when a filmmaker was so obviously overwhelmed with his task, as is evident here, there's simply not much that can be glossed over. If the makers had limited themselves to directing The Destiny - Allegiant as the final film of the series instead of inflating the plot completely unnecessarily and if they had taken a little more time to work out the special effects, the result could have been a really successful finale. But so now all hope lies on the fourth film, which will tell the story in the summer of 2017 to the end. Whether that then after this really weak third part still wants to see anyone, that is admittedly in the stars. Only for fans with clear deductions worth seeing!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp