This is the third movie based on Veronica Roth's bestselling Young Adult novels. Set in a violent and divisive time, it's more of an action adventure than its predecessors.
The groups living in Chicago are restless and hungering for revenge against those who collaborated with dead dictator Janine. While Evelyn (Naomi Watts), the new leader of the city, is getting ready to square off against Johanna (Octavia Spencer), a former advocate of nonviolent change, Tris (Shailene Woodley), her brother Caleb (Ansel Elgort), Four (Theo James), Christina (Zoe Kravitz), and the always treacherous Peter (Miles Teller) decide to see to what is left of the world outside of the walled-in city.
After a gun battle with Evelyn's right-hand man and executioner, the group of expats wander through a grim desert and are pelted by toxic red raindrops from the sky. They are captured and taken to a massive modern community in what used to be Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. Tris is given many tests supervised by David (Jeff Daniels) who concludes that she is genetically pure; he explains that all the others in her group and Chicago are "damaged," but she can be a key to changing things around in the world. He also wants to reinstate the faction system in Chicago, dividing people by their temperaments and skills, to safeguard peace. Four does not trust this new power-hungry scientist and his grand vision, but he is unable to convince Tris to return with him to their home which is now threatened by civil war.
In this dystopian flick directed by Robert Schwentke we recognize our present-day world in the anger and lust for revenge of bloodthirsty crowds, the replacement of one power-hungry leader with another just like her, the reliance upon armed soldiers to create peace, and the use of drones and complex surveillance technology to keep the masses of citizens under control. Released in an election year in the U.S., the story's exploration of what it takes to be a leader is also interesting.
Allegiant is not the best installment in the Divergent series, but its relevance to these elements of our times is enough to propel us into the final segment of the story, which will be released in spring 2017.