The Maze Runner (2014)

It wasn't long ago that I wrote a review for the film adaptation of the young adult novel Divergent. I found the setting to be interesting but almost everything else in the film to be incredibly derivative of better work in the same vein (the Hunger Games, Harry Potter, etc...). The Maze Runner is yet another adaptation of a young adult novel that contains characters between 13 and 20 years old in a fantastic situation... and to say I wasn't exactly excited for this movie is sort of an understatement. In a lot of ways I have just assumed all of these stories are going to take the same central premise and do very little outside of inventing a somewhat unique world to have the same coming-of-age themes presented in. However, I was somewhat perplexed by the above average reception this film received and finally gave it a chance. I'm more than happy to report that I had a really good time with the Maze Runner. While the Maze Runner does feature some of the structural trappings of most other young adult adaptations of late, its thrilling premise and surprisingly bleak tone and overall approach elevates this to a greater level of enjoyment for me.

I'm going to do my best to avoid even minor spoilers because one of the best parts of the Maze Runner is watching it evolve as secrets are uncovered. Overall this film is about a young man (named Thomas) who awakens in a moving elevator and finds himself in a fairly large open field with around 20 or 30 other teenage boys that is surrounded by towering walls. All of the people in this place suffer some extent of amnesia which prevents them from remembering anything before they woke up there. The only escape from this oasis is a vertical opening in the monstrous wall that closes every night. Thomas quickly learns that beyond this opening is a vast, ever-changing maze that is explored daily by certain members of the group known as “runners”. As you can imagine, Thomas is not as content with staying in this place as some of the others boys are and circumstances quickly escalate as more secrets of the place and who may have put them there start to surface. I'll say this, the filmmakers did a great job of bringing new situations and twists at the right time to make this movie constantly entertaining.

The Maze Runner is perhaps reminiscent of a lot of other work (as previously mentioned) but not to such a negative extent that you could call it a “rip-off”. There are elements of the legendary “Lord of the Flies” only this film is not nearly as nuanced and thematically gripping as that story. I also was reminded of the show “Lost” a few times in terms of style and the slow reveal of clues that help the characters understand what's going on. And of course there are some of the more typical tropes of the young adult films of recent in terms of concept. There are coming-of-age elements, a sense that the youth have to overcome great odds to become adults and a hint of romance (although not nearly as heavy-handed or obviously forced as it is in The Hunger Games or Divergent). Overall I was very impressed with how somewhat familiar ideas were blended in the Maze Runner. I was engaged the entire time and the ending really left me wanting more. If I have any complaint about the story it is perhaps how massive the info-dump is near the end of the movie. The filmmakers could have been more confident with the twist and introduced elements earlier instead of only adding it at the end to get me to want see the sequel (which I definitely will be doing).

For a movie of this size with a more modest budget ($34 million vs at least double that for the first Hunger Games film, for example) I was actually quite impressed with the look of the Maze Runner. There aren't a ton of big special effects but they are used effectively. Scenes where Thomas and other characters are running through the maze are often intense and quite surprising. There are some creatures that show up eventually that aren't spectacular in terms of the CGI but they don't look bad either. Overall I think this movie has a pretty distinct look and feel that helps give a sense of isolation and “oldness” to the location. There is a backdrop of melancholy and mystery in the Maze Runner that the look gets across. I was quite surprised with how much was put into making the somewhat simple locations look authentic.

The major problem that I think plagues the Maze Runner, however, is the characters. While I was rooting for the main characters to succeed and not to die, there also wasn't anything particularly special about them either. Thomas is a pretty typical male lead whose main benefits as a character come in his background as it is revealed. I don't think I really remember any other character names off of the top of my head. It doesn't help that some of the dialogue is sort of corny and acting not always consistently good (especially near the beginning). This isn't really a good sign but the fact that I was still tense and cheering them on is a good thing. The emphasis on this movie is definitely in the setting. While the heady twist and barrage of information at the end of this movie may be a bit difficult to digest, it works with the characters we are introduced to despite none of them being special. Maybe I'm just not young enough anymore to fully connect with characters like this.

Right from the beginning of the Maze Runner I knew that I was watching a movie that was made with much more care than I was previously giving it credit for. It's easy to dismiss this as another young adult adaptation with science-fiction or fantasy elements but that doesn't stop it from being pretty entertaining as a whole. If I can be somewhat bold I will say that I even liked this more than the first Hunger Games movie. There was no forced romance and the premise is much more unique. Or perhaps I'm a sucker for the type of story with a majorly mysterious premise that is slowly explored. In any case I think this movie is pretty great despite none of the characters being memorable. The Maze Runner is a sharp looking science-fiction movie with a great premise that held me to the end. While it won't be considered a great movie or game changer like something such as Harry Potter I think it is the first entry in what may be a very solid series of films.

8/10