The Maze Runner is the latest teen dystopian film. The main
character is Thomas (Dylan O'Brien) and he finds himself trapped in a maze with
a couple of other young boys. All the boys were abducted and put into the maze
with no memory of their former lives. The boys live in a sanctuary called the
Glade which is in the maze. They try every day to find a way out of the maze
which is difficult as the maze changes every night and there are monsters
guarding the maze. Thomas is determined to get out of the maze and becomes a
maze runner. A maze runner’s job is to map out the maze and find a way out.
 |
| source |
I heard that critics have described this film as a mix of
The Lord of the Flies and the Hunger Games. I agree except that their boys are
not as dysfunctional as the boys in Lord of the Flies and the movie is less
violent than the Hunger Games. I didn’t
read the book before seeing the movie so it was a mystery to me why the boys
were stuck in the maze. The film focuses on Thomas’ perspective so I didn’t see
who was controlling the maze until the end. I found that it helped to create
the atmosphere of anticipation and dread as Thomas explored more of the maze.
 |
| source |
I found the film to be fast paced and I would have liked
more time spent on character development. I thought some of the secondary
characters were a bit one dimensional and stereotypical. They had the cute kid
who the protagonist treats like a like a younger sibling, a jerk who tries to
tell everyone not to listen to the hero and is kinda jealous, token female and generic
best friend.
 |
| source |
I still think that the supporting cast was good but there
were no stand outs. I recognized some of the other boys in the Maze Runner as
some of them have been in other films.
Thomas Sangster (Love Actually) plays Newt, who is the best friend of
Thomas and Will Pouter (We’re the Millers) as Gally, Thomas’ rival. They are
very good actors and I was glad to see them in the film.
I think that The Maze Runner is a good movie to see with
friends. It’s action packed but not too violent, it’s suspenseful but not serious.
The Maze Runner is part of a series and the second movie is currently in production.
I look forward to seeing it.
This is certainly one I'll see sometime, though not until it comes to DVD. First I *have* to read the book since generally, that is my "rule" for movies - glad you enjoyed it, Carlyn! :)
ReplyDeleteI would read books before movies but I'm too lazy. My 'to be read' pile is too big that by the time I get to a book, the movie is already on dvd or I have forgotten all about it.
DeleteI think I prefer to see movies prior to reading the books in a way. I know it spoils the book in part, but I feel like when I read the book I'm getting more information and filled in on things that the movie left out. The movie almost always is a disappointment to me if I see it AFTER I've read the book.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure that I'll read the series at all, but the movie sounds entertaining enough to get on DVD on a winter night. Carlyn, you mentioned the actor from Meet The Millers, and I just wanted to comment btw that I thought Meet the Millers was hilarious and a very good movie.
I have seen the movie and read the book, and I really liked the movie. In the contrary I found the beginning to be very slow paced and it kind of dragged, but then the end was better and I liked it more. LOVED Minho so much he is one of my favourite characters! <3 Great review :3
ReplyDeleteI really liked Minho too! I agreed with Gally when he said something like this about Thomas, " Are you gonna listen to this guy? He's been here three days and he's running the place!" which is why I thought the movie was a little too fast paced.
Delete