Movie Review
Review The Maze Runner
"The Maze Runner" is the latest in a slew of Young Adult Novel Series to come to the big screen – Following "Twilight", "Mortal Instruments", "The Hunger Games" and "Divergent". Outside of "Mortal Instruments", all of them have been hugely successful at the Box Office, with "The Hunger Games" getting the most critical praise, and deservedly so in my opinion. Like "The Hunger Games" and "Divergent", "The Maze Runner" seems to take part in a Dystopian future. I've never read the books, but knowing general trends Maze Runner has some big shoes to live up to.
The movie opens with a teenage boy, played by Dylan O'Brien, ascending upward in a freight elevator. The elevator opens to a bunch of teenage boys. O'Brien's character does not remember his name, nor his past. He is told all of the boys went through this, and he will remember his name in a day or two – and this comes to pass, eventually remembering his name is Thomas. The boys are all living in a community, with a grassy square, they have named "The Glade", surrounded on all sides by giant concrete walls, one of which opens to a Maze. The oldest boy dates back 3 years being there, with a new boy a coming up in the elevator every month, along with supplies. Some of the boys, named "The Runners" explore the Maze during the day, in hopes of finding a way out, but must return to "The Glade" at night, before the doors close, and creatures they call "The Grievers", who they haven't seen, but heard, come out in the Maze. Anyone who has not made it back before the doors closed has been killed by "The Grievers".
The action is fierce and creative. Even the battles with various Grievers are well shot (sometimes tough to do with robots, because with so much activity it can be difficult to discern what's what and who's who, particularly in a low-light setting). The CGI was great especially in the maze which was beautiful. The acting is better than might be expected for a young-adult film, and O'Brien, Brodie-Sangster, and Poulter are each well cast.
Overall the Maze Runner is a decent addition to the movie based on book library. There is a nice design to the movie, and a lot of good character building to set the stage in this morbid tale. Acting wise it is enjoyable, but in reality it's the action surrounding the story that got me the most. I still wished though that there was some better wrap up than what we got, despite the opening it provided. Overall a decent movie to watch this weekend, and has elements worth a visit to the theater.
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