I almost hate to admit it but Fantastic Planet blew my mind.


I'd like to challenge any CP'er to watch this and report back.
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Saw the third installment of The Divergent Series—Allegiant. It didn't get a lot of viewers at the box office, which surprised me, but honestly, I wonder how many people knew it was part of Divergent? I mean unless you're a fan of the series and read the books too, like me. I loved this series and I enjoyed Allegiant generally except for where they made it too sci-fi. That seemed too out of place compared to the novel. The third book isn't as good as the first two books either and tends repeat a similar plot.

Now the budget's being slashed for the last installment. I have to say, I think a series like this being split into two books doesn't always work. I think it hurt the Hunger Games too. But I still enjoyed it because I got to see the characters and setting again.

I love Young Adult Fiction of the dystopian kind. I think it's some of the most original material these days. Now movie critics are predicting its demise.
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I've seen the first 2 and they're meh.

Trying to capitalize on the Hunger Games fame, and they're just not compelling stories or characters. To me, anyway.
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Well it was produced by the same people—Lionsgate. I thought that at first and refused to see it. It wasn't until I rented it last summer.

The only thing like the Hunger Games is the genre. They're both dystopias. I don't see that as being copycat, especially when the writer who came up with the idea when she was younger before Hunger Games. She wrote the first draft her last year as a creative writing major.

What I liked about this one was that it wasn't as harsh or edgy as the theme in the Hunger Games which is where it's different. I mean kids killing kids? I loved that this one was just under the surface, and that they accept their world. ( at first) and it slowly reveals. The character Four is like that too. Their world is closer to ours unlike the world in the Hunger Games. I absolutely loved the psychological aspects with the simulations. I thought that was really creative and made it different too. And I liked the idea of the factions, which may have been done before in other movies but I haven't seen those.

No they're different but only the same in that they're both dystopias.
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I don't disagree, but on a broader scale they look a lot alike.

Futuristic world that is largely flawed - Check
Female protagonist that has to grow up to overcome ridiculous odds - Check
Leans on pretty much only kids to overthrow the adult system.
Has to try and save her family - check
Male sidekick that helps her grow up on her journey - check
Falls in love with sidekick - check
Jouney involves overthrowing the government largley by herself and upsetting the entire society - check
Deaths of people important to her make her question her path but ultimately steel her nerves.
Ends up "changing the game" to succeed.

About the time it is starting to get good, it pulls a hunger games trick out of the hat.

I'll catch the third one when it hits HBO, because it's good enough to put on while I'm working, but groundbreaking, it is not.

Not bashing, JMO.
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hahaha!
all I remember about Fantastic Planet was that it was my first eyeful of bush. :-)
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stumbled onto this last night.
I like both Dorff and Griffin. hell IMO...Dorff is the coolest vampire EVER in Blade.

(has the F bomb in here....but pretty damned funny!)


the premise sounded promising if not maybe a little too much like Hancock. but I like this kind of thing....
damn it was just a TURD.


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I agree with all of this.
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On a broad scale perhaps but not when you break down the story more. The broader scale is what you use to put into a certain genre which is just a category.

Some of the comparisons are legit but it is what most dystopian stories have. Or they'd be another genre.

Both books were written by women wanting a strong female lead. Actually, until recently having a lead teen female has not been common.
That's why it is categorized as Young Adult fiction. Note also—The Maze Runner and Scorch Trials— another dystopian story.

Has to try and save her family - check

Actually Tris tires to save all humanity more. Her family are part of that, though she had to abandon them to pursue a faction change.

Male sidekick that helps her grow up on her journey - check
Falls in love with sidekick - check

Lots of stories have these. Can't get behind this one as a mere copy.

Part of dystopian stories and others too. Again, even Maze Runner and Scorch Trials.

Also part of many stories. Conflict creates drama. Though, I don't recall Tris questioning her path due to this.

Don't know yet until the end. (Spoiler:Tris dies in the last book to save humanity.)

Like what?

Well you are, but you've a right to your opinion. It's not for everyone. Some of what you say about being the same is legit but I think some of it is part of why its the same genre. I refuse to pay for HBO though. Still, Veronica Roth came up with her story before Suzanne Collins. So who is copying who? I say Hunger Games is the copy but it just was made into a movie first. Or are these things common to dystopia stories?
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Now for where the two stories differ:

There is no love triangle as there is with Katniss who can't decide which boy she likes most and it consumes part of her mental struggle. Love triangles are not a Tris thing, she's more focused on what she wants as a career and finds out she is Divergent which puts her in danger. Katniss would likely just become a miner had she not volunteered herself for the Hunger Games.

Tris wants to defy odds as a meek member of a faction to warrior status whereas Katnisss is already pretty much like that with her archery skills and and penchant for hunting and survival that helps her excel in the Hunger Games. Tris actually has to chose to abandon her family to accomplish this to the disappointment of her family, whereas as Katniss does not remaining with her family.

Four is hard to figure out, and we learn more later about his past. Caleb, her brother betrays her as a member of Erudite.

Tris has a larger group of friends.

The Factions and the types of things the Dauntless do like jumping off trains, from tall buildings not knowing what is below, which turns out to be a net. And the zip lining scene along Michigan Ave is priceless because it's so out of the ordinary. The Pit for Dauntless Headquarters is unique being inside a major city.

Divergent is much more low tech compared to the Hunger Games. ( Though the Allegiant changed this.)Plus the people are not starving to death. Well, except for the Factionless.

Kids don't fight to the death in Divergent for entertainment. There is no privileged capital where those who live there don't suffer from lack of food or live in poverty and the capital controls all of the district. Divergent doesn't have this but each section of society is different and they all work together. ( except the conflict is that Jeanine in Erudite thinks she's smarter than everyone and seeks to get rid of those who are divergent because they are a threat to her.)

There are 12 districts, which are locations for people but not 5 factions which are categories of people according to personality. There are no psychological simulations in Hunger Games which play a key role in Divergent as to the abilities of each individual. Some of the behaviors of these factions are part of the story, such as Christina being bold and open always telling the truth. Hunger Games has the artificial playing fields but those are still physically real where the characters get placed to kill each other as game. The people who live in the capital Hunger Games, versus the districts, dress in outlandish styles.

So there are similarities but there are still differences. For me I loved those simulations.
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Other than that, dystopian literature including such Huxley, George Orwell and H. G. Wells share many themes in their work : Control and order vs. freedom and chaos, altruism vs egoism and the ideals of a place, mastery of nature, corruption of those who control or power and propaganda, wars, political movements and government.

So those themes frequently appear in dystopian stories.
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Meh. They're close enough to be noticeable. The only reason I said it copies Hunger games is the hunger games movies came out first.

You obviously care about this argument far more than I do, so sure. They're different. I don't particularly like either one, but when I waved Divergent on HBO, it sure seemed like I'd been there before (I don't know where the release date was compared to Hunger Games, but I saw Hunger Games first).

I'll see the last 2 anyway. It's decent enough to put on HBOGo while I'm doing the bookkeeping.
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I am not a YA fiction fan, dystopian or otherwise, so I'd tend to agree with the "meh" reviews and find that the similarities actually approach the derivative. However, like with any genre, my lack of interest can lead me to overlook the things that fans find so engaging and unique in novels, and making a movie distills out even more of those details due to time constraints, so much that what may have resonated for many, falls completely flat for me (and clearly I'm not alone.)

I watched the first one and I found the lead character uninteresting. There was clearly a directorial choice to have the actor mute her performance a bit, likely to emphasize her choices as unexpected and bold, but it did her no favors in revealing any depth. I did like the world building and alot of the action was cool, but if I can't remember the characters names an hour after the movie is over, something went wrong.
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I thought so too
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Yeah, I think a genre can fall into they "they all look alike", but if you're more involved in them, you can appreciate the differences. The Divergent Series has a big fan following just from the books.

I loved the Hunger Games too. It was just more edgy because you have kids killing kids. I also loved Twilight.
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