that film was stupid
as much as i hate the book i have to say i makes more sense and is less *beep* up than this film. just a stupid action movie to skim whatever money they can get out of the audience. this film was totally unnecessary.
shareThe book was practically made of stupid but from what I've read of the movie's plot, they've somehow managed to out-stupid the book.
Example: So in the movie, as I understand it the memory serum gas is already stored and piped throughout the city the whole time? And David sends Peter back to the city to show Evelyn how to set it off, under the pretense that it will be used on the Johanna's Allegiant army, because it can only be activated from the controls in the city? Ignoring the question of why David needs Peter to get Evelyn to release the gas instead of just having Peter do it, period, the bigger question ... Why in the world is the serum set up where it can only be activated from inside so that whoever was tasked with releasing it would get gassed too? Why would the Bureau leave that type of control accessible only on the inside? How is it that David has remote access to absolutely everything else (apparently he employs some of that as he tries to stop Tris from shutting down the gas) but he can't remote access the memory serum activator and set it off himself? In the book, at least, the memory serum had to be deployed by the Bureau via planes that would I guess crop dust the city with the stuff. That entire plotline was ridiculous, but it nonetheless makes more sense than the setup described in the movie where the serum is already set up there for someone to release manually. That one is a special kind of stupid.
>>>>>Happy dance!
These are fictional pieces of entertainment. Of course everything isn't going to make complete sense.
It was good and entertaining, and good for those wanting to see a new sci-fi movie to check out. Wouldn't go so far to say it's perfect, though as long as you aren't overly critical of everything, you're likely to enjoy it.
As I posted elsewhere, Tom Clancy once said "The difference between fiction and reality is that fiction has to make sense."
As a writer myself, I really, really, REALLY hate the excuse that because a story is fiction it doesn't have to make sense. You better believe it does. That is what storytelling is about. And the problem with these movies is that so, so many things so BLATANTLY don't make sense, the plot holes SO obvious and nonsensical to even a non-critical viewer, that you have to wonder if a 9-year-old wrote these scripts. A story doesn't have to be Einstein-level brilliant and airtight in the logic of every detail, but it also doesn't have to openly insult its audience, either.
>>>>>Happy dance!
I agree. Thanks
shareThat's the dumbest thing I ever heard. Good fiction makes sense.
Suzanne
Oh god, you're right.
Presumably David just set Peter and Evelyn up to be gassed themselves because it appears activating the memory serum doesn't stop it from getting into the control room itself. Of course, it would have been much easier if David just sent Peter on his merry way and just gassed the city remotely instead but then we wouldn't have our (anti)climax.
another mistake they made:
in that movie it was called "erudite" serum which means it is not the serum that extinguishes your memory but the serum that kills you. erudite serum is death serum, and it was clearly written on some place while they set it free.
they should have written "abnegation" serum, because that is the serum that erases you memory.
but thank god, we had a lot of crappy action scenes like the one with Edgar chasing them on their way out of the city.
Well it was David who set the trap there in the first place. He knows the gas would be deployed in the control room too. He just told Peter that it wouldn't. The people who installed the trap would know to get out in time. Likewise all Evelyn knows is that the gas wipes the memories and that it's going to be released on Johanna's army. Peter just didn't tell her that it would be released in the whole city. So Evelyn was easily duped, banking on the fear of being overthrown and executed just like Jeannine and Max were.
Well it was David who set the trap there in the first place. He knows the gas would be deployed in the control room too. He just told Peter that it wouldn't. The people who installed the trap would know to get out in time.
That does not solve the mystery of (a) who exactly did they ever have in mind to be the one to be there to release the gas, as it would have to be either someone already in the city who would therefore have to be informed of this thing's existence and risk spoiling the whole thing, or someone from the Bureau who (i) managed to get into the city somehow without anyone noticing a strange person who obviously wasn't living there five minutes ago and (ii) was willing to sacrifice him/herself to the gas unless they managed to get away and out of the city again before it got to them, which is a huge if -- any way you slice it, not a logical plan -- and (b) why in the world they ever set it up where it would have to be released manually in the first place instead of having remote access to do it from the Bureau, as we plainly see they have set up for literally everything else.
>>>>>Happy dance! share
It is entirely possible that the gas going off inside the "safe room" was not the original plan.
David has not only control but also surveillance thoughout the city. The gas in that room didn't start until Evelyn had a change of heart and attempted to abort the release. With that sort of situation, couldn't it be possible David opened the vents to let the gas into the room?
Also, if that room was there since the beginning of the experiment (200 years previously), it's possible it was put there with an original intention different than David's, a deliberate system that allowed serum to be released in the entire city as either a fail-safe or a reset button.
All of that is unfounded supposition, and that last point is exactly what David himself was doing. And none of that, still, answers the big question of why in the world the thing had to be released manually when they had remote access to everything else. I mean, besides plot contrivance. Because the logic is just unabashedly silly.
>>>>>Happy dance!
As none of us are omniscient, isn't supposition the point? The fun of any message board is found with opinions, ideas, discussion, and hypotheses.
=)
We can suppose a lot of things, but that doesn't make them legitimate explanations. I'm talking about actual reasoning, logic. It still doesn't work.
I would love nothing more than for there to be a logical reason for all of the many things that make no sense in these movies, but the fact is there aren't any. They're just plot holes, some more how-the-hell-did-this-get-through-editing stupid than others. The scripts are not thought out. It's what happens when you have four (!) screenwriters rewriting the same thing on a too-short timetable.
>>>>>Happy dance!
Keep fighting the good fight! There are others who appreciate logic!
(Jus left the theater wondering how they let such massive plot holes remain).