The Maze Runner: Movie Review
Based on the first in a series of best-selling novels by James Dashner, “The Maze Runner” centers on a group of young men who have been put in a grassy box which they refer to as “The Glade”. Surrounding their habitat is a massive maze in which there is no known way out of. Days are spent gardening and living in a society of peace, with the exception of a few fights for entertainment purposes. Every 30 days a new member is sent to join the group, and that person is delivered via cargo elevator along with some fresh food and supplies. Nobody knows why they are there and the only memory each of them has is that of their own name.
Things begin to change when Thomas (Dylan O’Brian) arrives. He is much more curious than the others and he is not very good at following the rules. The biggest rules is that nobody is allowed to enter the maze unless they have been chosen to be a runner. What is a runner? The maze is constantly changing and evolving, and for years runners have been entering the maze during the daytime trying to map it out in order to find an exit. Because each night the maze is changed, an escape has never been found. If a runner gets trapped in the maze before dark, they would be picked off by giant robot-spider hybrids called Greavers.
“The Maze Runner” is definitely geared towards “The Hunger Games” and “Divergent” crowd. Unfortunately it is nowhere near as good as those films. Actually it’s pretty awful. O’Brian who is easily one of the best parts of MTV’s “Teen Wolf” is also the only half-way decent part of “The Maze Runner”, but first time feature film director Wes Ball has adapted the novel into a sloppy and stupid film that is also boring. Even the action sequences are terrible. In once sequence where Thomas is running from a Greaver while in the maze, everything is so dark and moving so fast, I could barely make out what was going on.
The screenplay was adapted by Noah Oppenheim and Grant Pierce Myers who have never written one before and it shows. I really like O’Brien and I hope the young star gets better material to work with in the future. He has a great on-screen presence. Aside from him, “The Maze Runner” is one you need to run away from this weekend.
By: Marc Ferman