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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
