Lord of the Rings meets The Hunger Games. That was what many people were using as a comparison to Wes Ball’s The Maze Runner. I figured the movie would be a surefire hit if that was the comparison. Its reviews on Rotten Tomatoes have been mixed, but there have certainly been more positive than negative ones. As I write this review, remember that I read the book. I read the book this summer when I saw that this movie was coming out in September. I did not realize at the time that this was a book about young adult literature. I should have done my research, but I was hooked by both the title and the book’s premise. While the book was well written, I kept asking myself why I read it as a 38-year-old man. I had the same conversation with myself as I sat watching the movie on opening weekend. This is a cool movie…if you are a teenager. But never did I feel like it was a cross between Lord of the Flies and The Hunger Games.
Dylan O’Brien (The Internship) plays the role of Thomas, the film’s protagonist. In a movie full of relative newcomers, O’Brien’s performance is head and shoulders above the others. Think of a curious Ralph from Lord of the Rings; there you have Thomas. Will Poulter (We’re the Millers) is the equivalent of Jack from Lord of the Rings. Gally isn’t as much an anarchist as Jack, someone whose beliefs go against the group’s norm. I felt like he was much more an antagonist in the movie than in the book. I almost wish Gally had been toned down so we could concentrate more of our attention on the maze, the real antagonist of the book. O’Brien and Poulter are both young men, but both have crafted solid performances in comedies and science fiction/fantasy. I will be interested to see where the paths of these two actors go. I had no idea until after this movie that either had been in a movie I had seen before. They were unrecognizable from their previous performances. With that said, the rest of the acting performances are easily forgotten. I’m not sure if the performances of O’Brien and Poulter were that good or if the other performances were that bad. I do know that, for the most part, the acting was atrocious.
The story will certainly keep those who have not read the book in suspense. The movie starts with Thomas being shot up an elevator shaft and deposited in a huge gland with the faces of dozens of teenage boys staring him down. Surrounding the glade are towering, thick walls. Thomas remembers nothing about who he was before this moment other than his first name. He learns from Newt and Alby (the land leaders) that a new boy is sent to the glad each month. Also sent with “the greenie” are enough supplies and food to last through the month. There is no way off the land except through the maze. The maze is made up of massive walls around the land. But in three years, no one has been able to solve the maze. The only boys who have ever left are the ones who have died. Certain boys, like Minho, are selected as runners. Thomas learns that the walls not only close at night but that they also shift. Maps have been drawn over the years, but efforts to escape the maze have proven futile. Everyone on the land has his job. In addition to runners, there are builders, bricknicks, sloppers, cooks, track hoes, baggers, slicers, and med-jacks. While it is the job of the runners to find a way out, it is the job of everyone else to sustain life in the glade. In addition to the maze walls, the boys also must contend with grievers. Grievers are half-animal, half-machine creatures that roam through the maze. When stung by a griever, a boy turns. While the change involves intense pain for a few days, it also brings back some memories the boys had of their lives before the maze. Unfortunately, some of the boys cannot return to the form they had before being stung. All of these factors play a role in the movie.
The movie’s main questions revolve around whether the boys can escape the maze and, if so, how and if not, why not? I think this movie is better for those who haven’t read the book. If you have read the book, the movie is exactly as you pictured. The maze itself is cool, but it cannot justify wasting two hours of your team. The music is terrible. During the movie’s most intense moments, all that I was able to concentrate on was the awful background music. Author James Dasher was influenced by Lord of the Rings and The Hunger Games. If I write adventure novels, I would most likely be inspired by those two books. I think that when a book is adapted for a movie, any author would be happy if there were no changes made in the process. Let’s just say that Dasher is a delighted man. The parts that were left off from his book were negligible. The result was the same, even if getting there was slightly different.
I can’t recommend this movie if you are over 20. It’s child’s play.
Plot 9/10
Character Development 6.5/10
Character Chemistry 4/10
Acting 4/10
Screenplay 7.5/10
Directing 7.5/10
Cinematography 9.5/10
Sound 4/10
Hook and Reel 6/10
Universal Relevance 7/10
65%
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