Review of The Giver (2014) by Tyler R — 04 Aug 2015

Another day, another half baked YA adaptation. What makes this one so different? It is infuriatingly dull and bland. In fact, one could say that it was made this way so as to be a metaphor for how this film's society lives, but that would be too much thought for the people involved.

The Giver shows us a society where there are no emotions, and everyone is given their place in society. Sounds similar to Divergent, doesn't it? Well, it's just as bad. On the acting front, things are mostly great.

We have Jeff Bridges and Meryl Streep who are beyond wasted, an extremely out of place set up cameo from Taylor Swift, a typically bad Katie Holmes, and a poor Brenton Thwaites, who does his best with what very little he is given.

Outside of these main characters, everyone else is just filler. Visually, the film mostly succeeds, with gorgeous cinematography and a risky black and white first half. Unfortunately, it immediately switches to color, which is also when the film immediately goes downhill in favor of the typical love triangle, betrayal, chase and action loaded third act.

But the worst part of all? The last twenty minutes or so are solely dedicated to setting up a sequel, answering absolutely nothing in the process. When the credits finally roll, the viewer is left unsatisfied by a film that could have been pretty great.