For the last three years, I have loyally followed the “Divergent” franchise. I read all the books, and grudgingly watched the movies which I knew would not live up to them, so in keeping my expectations low I was not disappointed, other fans were not so lucky. The movie adaptation of “Divergent” was fairly decent, the poor casting being what really brought it down in my eyes. I was a bit more critical of “Insurgent,” again the poor casting was detrimental and the changes made to the story seemed to take away more than it added. Both of these books I loved, but the final installment in the series, “Allegiant,” was a horrible conclusion to the series with a throwaway ending that none of the fandom seems to accept.

Therefore, when they announced the release date for the movie, I groaned but resigned myself to see it. How could I not? I had spent the last three years reading and watching this series. Then they announced they would be creating four movies, with the final one being titled “Ascendant.” At this news I sighed in exasperation. There are only three books, and in the third there is not that much material to work with, it’s mostly filler. So my expectations for the “Allegiant” movie were lowered even further.

Somehow, it still managed to disappoint. The story was completely unrecognizable from the one that I had read and left me wondering, “Did I read the wrong book?” I will forever be bitter about the horrible portrayal of Tris, the main character, played by Shailene Woodley. I have seen her act in other movies, she has talent, yet when she acts in the “Divergent” movies it’s very flat and emotionless. The plot was changed in ways that left me with questions not about the story, but about “Why would they do this to the preexisting story?” For one thing, the technology was so incredibly advanced and they were flying around in little pods for transport when, in the book, they were living in a dingy old abandoned airport and had an airplane they would use to commute. It significantly changed the progression of the story because every time there was a problem it was, “No worries, we have some cool tech that can fix that.” This took away a lot from the story and the struggles of the characters.

I would give “Allegiant” three out of five stars as a standalone, and one out of five as a book to movie adaptation. Though I will go and see “Ascendant” to see what became of the characters that I adored in the books, but my expectations are six feet under.