New Releases: March 21, 2014

1. Divergent (Lionsgate/Summit, 3,936 Theaters, 139 Minutes, Rated PG-13): So, of all the contenders to the crown of “next teen lit book to hit big on the big screen”, this film might just have the best shot of making it.

Based on the 2011 novel by Veronica Roth, the story has young people sorted into different “factions” based on a test of their attributes, much like Harry Potter; there is a hint of a star-crossed romance between two people of two different factions, much like Twilight,and there is the class warfare and kid’s killing kids aspect that resembles The Hunger Games.

And there certainly is a demand for it. Thanks to savvy marketing, demand for the books rose in anticipation of the film.

However, it is opening opposite the Muppets. I don’t want to live in a world where this film beats the Muppets in the box office.So, don’t see this movie.

2. Muppet’s Most Wanted (Disney, 3,194 Theaters, 112 Minutes, Rated PG): I am a life-long Muppet fan and I loved 2011’s The Muppets. For me, it captured the silly, zany charm that made the felt monsters such an endearing part of my childhood, yet updated it so that it fit in with modern sensibilities.

However, not every Muppet fan felt the same way. So, the powers that be decided to come back bigger and better than ever this time around to win those doubters over.

Gone are Jason Segal and Nick Stoller (writing is taken over by director James Bobin), but in their place we get about three times as many cameos, and  plot that spans the globe.

The Muppets are sent into disarray when unbeknownst to them, Kermit is replaced by an international criminal by the name of Constantine. Constantine arranges a tour of Europe as a cover for a high-stakes heist while Kermit idles away in a Russian Gulag. The gang has to free Kermit and stop Constantine before things get too out of hand.