Thomas is deposited in a community of boys after his
memory is erased, soon learning they're all trapped in a maze that will
require him to join forces with fellow "runners" for a shot at escape.
Storyline
Thomas wakes up in an elevator, remembering nothing but his own name. He
emerges into a world of about 60 teen boys who have learned to survive
in a completely enclosed environment, subsisting on their own
agriculture and supplies. A new boy arrives every 30 days. The original
group has been in "The Glade" for three years, trying to find a way to
escape through the Maze that surrounds their living space. They have
begun to give up hope. Then a comatose girl arrives with a strange note,
and their world begins to change. There are some great, fast-paced
action scenes, particularly those involving the nightmarish Grievers who
plague the boys. Written by
KelseyJ.
Movie Reviews
This
weekend is a big weekend, with at least three blockbuster movies
releasing in my neck of the woods. I start my reviews this weekend with
perhaps the most anticipated of the bunch, the Maze Runner. Once again
Hollywood has decided to take a book series and run with it, in hopes
that it will be the next big series to change the world. Yet like
always, the question remains: Is this another glorified mess from the
trailers, or have they done a good job? Well with two of my good
buddies, I headed to the theater to start my weekend of reviews.
I've
never read the books, but knowing general trends Maze Runner has some
big shoes to live up to. The premise is quite simple, a boy gets sent up
to a center of the maze with a handful of other boys, and no memories
of where he was before. This familiar bout of amnesia, is apparently
normal, and within seconds he is integrated into a culture reminiscent
of Lord Of The Flies. Of course, like always, Thomas is the one who
defies the normal rules, and starts the journey of change that starts
the trilogy. While the story is nothing we haven't seen before, the Maze
Runner has some suspense and unknown elements that keeps you latched
into the film. Throughout the film, my mind worked to uncover and guess
the twists they had at the end, knowing the general nature of the
set-up, yet not quite able to figure out the specific details. It is
this element, at least for a Maze Runner newbie like me, that kept me
into the movie.
Despite the underlying mystery though, there
were some other elements in the mix that made the Maze Runner an
interesting experience. For one thing the movie is well shot and edited
together. The entire journey is captured well, each angle well suited to
give you the greatest detail in as little transitions. The same
techniques remain during the dramatic argument scenes, which, when
combined with the audio of booming drums and blaring horns, brings out
the emotion and tension the boys are feeling. Yet, the best part of the
camera editing are the action scenes, especially concerning the maze. It
is always nice to see a movie defy the trend of shaky camera work,
forgoing the "realistic" first person perspective for actually showing
us the scene at hand. Whether it be running or fighting, the camera is
surprisingly stable and well focused on the matter at hand and brings
some excitement to a rather slow plot line.
Yes, unfortunately
the story of the Maze Runner is a little drawn out and at points, rather
vague and inconclusive. At first the ambiguity is fun, the multiple,
unanswered questions keeping you wondering what path the movie will turn
down next. These elements are integrated quite well with character
developing moments, allowing more character buildup to help set the
stage. However, for this reviewer it's nice to get some answers at
points in the movie instead of more questions. Maze Runner for me
provided vague solutions to the unknown, leaving more questions with
that answer. Now this can be good if there is a nice wrap up to the
madness, but for this movie that wasn't the case for me. I know, many
are going to say that there are three books and answers come later, but
this reviewer wanted a little more wrap up to at least some of the
questions that developed over the two hours. To tell you the truth, I
felt kind of gipped at the end of the movie, saying at the end, and I
quote one of the characters, "Really?"
Despite the ambiguity
though there are two other elements that help keep the movie going.
First off the action is fun and relevant to the plot, the maze portions
in particular being an intense fight for survival. Despite being a
little savage and gruesome at parts, the evolutionary drive to remain
alive is balanced with strategy, running, and fights with primitive
tools. The action doesn't seem extra, but is built into the story quite
well, spanning the fighting spectrum between the male rivalry to
fighting the raging the Grievers. Of course the action is only as good
as the acting as well, especially when it comes to interacting with CGI
settings. Thomas (Dylan O'Brien) is the staple to the casting,
surprising me with his performance of a male version of Catniss. Unlike
the leading lady though, Thomas fought the culprits without being as
whiney, a plus in my book for a leading character. O'Brien had a nice
balance to his role, passionate and fiery, without crossing into an
overacted, melodramatic mess. Lead Maze Runner Minho (Ki Hong Lee) was
also a nice supporting character, bringing the wing man role to life and
adding a little grounding to Thomas's flamboyant attitude. As for
characters like Newt (Thomas Brodie-Sangster), Alby (Aml Ameen), Chuck
(Blake Cooper), and Gally (Will Poulter), they were good too and each
did a nice job playing their respective characters. Though with the
exception of O'Brien, the real strength was the chemistry between all
the group was the greatest quality of the acting and the community they
formed.
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. My scores are:
Action/Mystery/Sci-Fi: 7.5 Movie Overall: 7.0
