The Maze Runner

The Maze Runner is an adaptation of a young adult bestseller. I haven't read the book yet, but I hope it's better than the movie.

The movie seemed to be a compilation of Lord of the Flies and Hunger Games, with the combination of young boys living on their own and the survival of the fittest world. However, both of these movies are much better than this one. The premise is a group of adolescent boys that are put into a clearing. Walls around the area make up a giant maze that doesn't seem to have a way out. The boys have no memories, and are given no direction about where they are or why they're there. The maze was the most interesting part of the plot, but there seemed to be too much build up to the maze, and too little action inside of it. Mise en scene was good, with the greivers special effects and the walls of the maze the most visually compelling parts. The boys seemed to do a lot of talking around the subject of what was going on in their world, and very little exploring it or trying to make sense of it.

The effects of the greiver sting were intriguing, but again not developed well. There was a hint that the stings were bringing memories back, but really not enough memories to be compelling, and in the end this seemed to be another dead end.

The characters weren't well developed, but seemed more like caricatures -- the bully and his lackeys, the lovable chubby kid, and the smart, strong leader. All were predictable, and with the death of Chuck (Blake Cooper) at the end, all charm was gone. There were good performances by Thomas (Dylan O'Brien) and Minho (Ki Hong Lee), but other than that the boys of the glade were forgettable.

The story had to include the aspects of brotherhood brought on by the group's confinement and isolation, which is where the Lord of the Flies comparisons are most valid. They didn't seem to have a solid group, but seemed to be somewhat loyal to their leader, Alby. The addition of Theresa brought an element of surprise into the relationships that could have been interesting, but didn't ever fully develop.

The beginning and the end were the most entertaining aspects of the film. In the beginning, there was a lot of curiosity about where they were, how they got there, and how this world operated. The answers to those questions seemed to come slower than they should, with most of them never answered at all. The lack of a real defined goal or path to that goal hampered the middle part of the movie. Sure, they wanted to get out, but they didn't really know why. Without any memory of what was outside of the glade, true motivation to leave it was hard to explain. 

The end finally felt like the characters were doing something, and working together against a clear antagonist. The surprise where the WICKED scientist Ava Paige faked her own suicide was interesting, and finally brought attention back to the questions from the beginning. The end was an obvious set up for the next movie, but this movie does not stand on its own well.