Insurgent

Insurgent

Rated PG-13 and Released in Grand Rapids 3/20/15

Reviewed 3/20/15 at Celebration North Theatre

with Brandon and Cody

2 1/2 out of 5 Js in QUIET Rating System

I loved Divergent, the first in the franchise. I feel like the second movies are always the big set up for the third installment - Twilight, The Hunger Games, and Hobbit to name a few - and Insurgent is no different. We all liked this, but we were not overwhelmed.

Beatrice Prior (Shailene Woodley) and Four (Theo James) are on the run and hiding out with one of the harboring factions. Jeanine (Kate Winslet), the powerful Erudite faction leader, wants to ferret out all of the divergents, who are a small group that don't belong to any faction but possess the qualities of all of them. The evil-minded Jeanine has her reasons. While the Resistance power grows behind Four and Beatrice, the only way to take down Jeanine and her minions is to band together with other outcasts, but they are finding that difficult. In the end there is a remarkable turn of events, but the rest of the story didn't have the excitement of the first film. Woodley still carries this movie and it is a must-see sometime if you want to stick it out to the end. And you'll see where the third installment starts, which unfortunately is going to be broken up into two parts. Ugh!

Quality: JJ

Understood story:  JJ

Interest: JJj

Entertainment:  JJJ

Time:  JJJ

Run All Night

Run All Night

Rated R and Released in Grand Rapids 3/20/15

Reviewed 3/20/15 at Celebration North Theatre

with Brandon

3 out of 5 Js in QUIET Rating System

This is Liam Neeson's type of movie. The kidnappings in his Taken films were getting a bit tiresome; so glad to see Neeson in something else. Even though Run All Night could be considered much of the same, it is action-packed with all the usual senselessness.

Jimmy Conlon (Neeson) is former henchman for his longtime friend Shawn Maguire (Ed Harris). Despite years of loyalty and friendship, Jimmy is forced to defend his estranged son Mike (Joel Kinnaman) against Shawn and his thugs after they both get tangled up in a crime spree. They must survive while being chased all over NYC by the police and bad guys. The plot has all the elements of predictability, but for the most part it is exciting to the end.

QUIET Rating system: 3 Js

Quality: JJ

Understood story:  JJJj

Interest: JJJ

Entertainment:  JJJj

Time:  JJJ