Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.0

Insurgent 3D Blu-ray Movie Review

Middle child syndrome, 3D film style.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman July 30, 2015

Let’s be honest: will so-called “young adults” ever even look away from their computer monitors or up from their hand held devices to notice that there’s an Apocalypse going on? As the father of two personal electronics obsessed teenagers, my unwavering answer is no (and maybe even hell, no). The “YA” market is awash in dystopian dramas, from the adventures of Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games to the labyrinth scaling of Thomas in The Maze Runner, making a lot of the Divergent franchise seem repetitive, derivative and frankly a bit on the lackluster side. Insurgent picks up more or less right where Divergent left off, with the “faction” system of a dystopian future Chicago (or what’s left of it, anyway) crumbling from within, courtesy of the machinations of power mad Jeanine Mathews (Kate Winslet). Beatrice (“Tris”) Prior (Shailene Woodley), her brother Caleb (Ansel Elgort), Four (Theo James) and Peter Hayes (Miles Teller) are holed up in the Amity faction, even as Jeanine broadcasts an unabashedly duplicitous formal public statement distancing herself from the melée which capped Divergent, blaming it on rogue Dauntless activists, which of course include Tris and her cohorts. Jeanine is obsessed with a totemic artifact that acolyte Eric Coulter (Jai Courtney) discovers in the shambles of the Abnegation attack, a “Macguffin” of sorts that propels the overly circuitous plot of Insurgent forward, albeit with a number of detours along the way. Insurgent veers off into something akin to virtual reality territory as it moves along, even including a VR analogue to that old wives’ tale that if you die in a dream, you’ll die in “real life” as well.

Part of the “sophomore slump” that has sometimes attended previous second installments of franchises (whether outright trilogies or not) is the fact that almost by definition the gambit of this position is to act as a bridge between the expository first installment and whatever excitement awaits in the climax. Insurgent does a rather good job of jumping into the fray from the get go, giving just enough of a reminder of the backstory to reacquaint viewers with what’s going on, some of it courtesy of a dream sequence which also reveals the inner angst which will color Tris’ actions throughout the film.

One outright betrayal and a later development that at least looks like another betrayal may keep some viewers slightly off kilter, though of course things turn out to not be entirely as they seem. Tris becomes a (willing?) pawn in Jeanine’s game, becoming a captive repeatedly subjected to a “simulation serum” that Jeanine hopes will provide Tris the tools to open the mysterious artifact. Jeanine’s public posture is that the artifact contains a secret that will allow the final eradication of all divergents, though prescient viewers will probably have a hunch that this element, too, is not entirely as it seems.

Insurgent has a couple of standout set pieces, but it can’t help but feel overly manipulative at times, especially as it attempts to wreak as much havoc in Tris’ emotional life as possible. The film also has a tendency to lapse into completely predictable clichés at several given moments, including a ludicrous (if blessedly short) “death” of a major character that (of course) turns out to not be entirely as it seems (are you sensing a pattern here?).

While never offering anything remotely approaching a real surprise, Insurgent is at least buoyed by some quite effective performances. Woodley is forced to cope with some overly florid scenes in this installment, but still manages to make Tris a believably spunky if troubled heroine. Winslet is a lot of fun as the harridan and scheming Jeanine, all placid and calm exterior masking a very febrile interior life. Naomi Watts also is well modulated as a new character with a special relationship to an existing major character, and who becomes something of a fulcrum upon which some of the revolutionary fervor of the Dauntless and factionless brigades hinges.

Insurgent 3D Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Insurgent is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films and Summit Entertainment with AVC (2D) and MVC (3D) encoded 1080p transfers in 2.40:1. The IMDb lists several digital cameras which were utilized for the production, including the Arri Alexa, the Phantom Flex4K and the Red Scarlet. The result is nonetheless completely homogeneous looking, with a typically sharp and often superbly well defined image. Perhaps surprisingly, Insurgent has not been color graded to within an inch of its dystopian future action film life, with large swaths of the outing offering a very natural and attractive looking palette, one which pops vividly and which offers a glut of excellent fine detail. There are some notable exceptions, with typical blue tints added to some sequences, and a buttery yellow ambience in others, two choices which can minimally reduce detail at times. The first longish sequence in the factionless "headquarters" is rather dark and struggles at times to provide really well defined shadow detail. There are one or two very brief moments of image instability, including some passing judder (watch early in the film as the camera pans across a kid swinging in the Amity compound). CGI is generally excellently sharp throughout the film, especially in some of the virtual reality sequences which make up the bulk of the second and third acts. Contrast and black levels are both solid and consistent throughout the presentation.

The fact that Divergent was not released in 3D and (according to some reports at least) Insurgent was a last minute candidate for 3D conversion may indicate why this film never really pushes the envelope in terms of complete visual immersion. Sure, there are occasional gimmicky moments like a flock of (obviously CGI) crows flying straight at the viewer, but a lot of Insurgent offers only moderate depth within the frame, often accomplished by foreground placement of things like trees or remnants of buildings in the shattered ruins of Chicago. A lot of the film plays out in shadowy or darkened environments, approaches which don't lend themselves to overwhelming dimensionality and depth. Some of the virtual reality sequences offer some good effects, especially as Tris has to maraud her way through various almost hallucinogenic environments to accomplish various goals.

Insurgent 3D Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Note: PS3 owners (as I am) will experience the same inability to watch a 3D film with a lossless Dolby Atmos and/or core Dolby TrueHD track as has been the case on several previous releases. The 3D disc will default to a standard lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 track if played with a PS3.

Insurgent is the latest Blu-ray release to feature a Dolby Atmos soundtrack, which many (if not most) receivers will decode as a Dolby TrueHD 7.1 track. This is an incredibly forceful and vivid sounding track, one which is rife with discrete channel placement of sound effects, and an at times almost overwhelming use of LFE, both in terms of effects and the brooding lower ranges of Joseph Trapanese's score. The film offers excellent spaciousness in its quieter moments, with good representations of ambient environmental sounds. When all hell breaks loose, as it does at several junctures, the track becomes busy with explosive bursts of everything from gunfire to the destructive trampling of military vehicles marauding through various environments. The virtual reality sequences offer some of the best overall immersion, especially a great sequence involving Tris trying to rescue her mother (Ashley Judd) from a flying compartment that's on fire. A later showdown with Jeanine provides some rippling panning effects when "reality" seems to be crumbling like a jigsaw puzzle that can't quite keep it together. Fidelity is top notch and dynamic range extremely wide on this problem free track.

Insurgent 3D Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

All of the supplements are included on the 2D version of the film.

• Audio Commentary with Producers Doug Wick and Lucy Fisher. Wick and Fisher aren't quite as chatty as they were on their Divergent commentary, letting relatively large swaths of the film play without much to say. They offer quite a bit of anecdotal and occasionally fun information, like the fact that Jai Courtney is evidently quite the bartender.


• Insurgent Unlocked: The Ultimate Behind-the-Scenes Access (1080p; 1:56:32) offers a picture in picture tours of various swaths of the film, with the film in a window in the lower right or left of the frame while a variety of production featurettes play out on the bulk of the screen. Individual featurettes can be accessed separately and include:

  Building a Bigger World

  Creating the Big Screen Experience

  Exploring the Factionless

  From Factionless to Candor

  A New Landscape of Weapons and Stunts

  Composers and Simulators

  A Fight to the Finish

• From Divergent to Insurgent (1080p; 5:09) has various cast and crew interviews discussing the arc of the stories.


• The Others: Cast and Characters (1080p; 3:40) offers some brief comments on various characters.


• Anatomy of a Scene: The Train Fight (1080p; 4:01) is a brief but fun look at one of the film's set pieces.


• The Peter Hayes Story (1080p; 2:40) focuses on the character played by Miles Teller.


• Divergent: Adapting Insurgent to the Screen (1080p; 4:00) has some quick interviews but includes some good behind the scenes footage.


• Marketing Gallery includes:

  Sneak Peek (1080p; 2:45)

  Sneak Peek Presented by Shailene Woodley (1080p; 1:25)

  In Theater Promotional Making Of (1080p; 1:33)

  HBO First Look (1080p; 12:38)

  Theatrical Trailer 1 (1080p; 1:07)

  Theatrical Trailer 2 (1080p; 2:34)

  Theatrical Trailer 3 (1080p; 1:11)

  Theatrical Trailer 4 (1080p; 1:12)

  Theatrical Trailer 5 (1080p; 1:10)

  Image Gallery (1080p)

  Animated Character Portraits:

  Shailene Woodley (1080i; 00:19)

  Theo James (1080i; 00:19)

  Kate Winslet (1080i; 00:19)

  Octavia Spencer (1080i; 00:19)

  Naomi Watts (1080i; 00:17)

Insurgent 3D Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Insurgent lumbers along, ticking off plot points at will in an obvious attempt to move the story along to the point where the real good stuff can start. There's not one putative "twist" in this entry that any decent movie lover is not going to guess miles before it's actually revealed, but the film at least offers some spectacular set pieces and good performanes from Woodley, Winslet and Watts. The whole Divergent franchise has seemed like a knockoff of better known and just plain better fare, and that perception is only reinforced with this fitfully engaging but overall kind of tired entry. Technical merits are generally incredibly strong, and the supplemental package well stocked, so with caveats noted, Insurgent as an overall Blu-ray release (if not as an actual film) comes Recommended.