The Maze Runner

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with making a movie with the goal of making money, if your movie is actually fun to sit through. Let’s not kid ourselves; the real reason why “The Maze Runner” was made was because the books were popular. Why? Because right now “The Hunger Games” is immensely well liked. Dystopian young-adult novels are considered money in the bank. I’m ok with that because this world we’re introduced to, based on the novel by James Dashner shows a lot of promise and has some interesting ideas on display.

The film begins with a 16-year-old boy (Dylan O’Brien) waking up inside a service elevator with no memory of who he is, or how he arrived. Greeted by other boys who woke up in similar circumstances, he is told that he is now in “the Glade”, a grassy area encircled by tall stone walls, the beginnings of a large maze that encircles their home and is patrolled by monstrous, murderous creatures.

When I first heard of the premise of this film, I was instantly hooked. Who put these people in this place? Why? Are they prisoners? Is the maze there to keep them distracted from a true means of escape? Is it some kind of experiment or test? Why the amnesia?

I think there’s something inherently fascinating about a maze that you see people exploring. There are so many areas that would be great for ambushes that it lends itself very well to tension and when you factor in that this is a futuristic facility where the maze is anything but static, it reveals itself as a place ripe for some pretty good action sequences.

In addition to the captivating environment our hero finds himself in, we have some decent character dynamics. You know that having this many teenage boys trapped in a place where there’s always a risk of death at the hands of labyrinth monsters means it’s only a matter of time before they all go “Lord of the Flies” on each other. Nevertheless you hope that it’s not going to come to that. I enjoyed seeing our hero interact with the other inhabitants of the camp. Gally (Will Poulter), Chuck (Blake Cooper), Newt (Thomas Brodie-Sangster) and Alby (Aml Ameen) It’s pretty obvious who is going to end up as “the villain” and who is going to serve as the sacrificial lamb, the mentor or the best friend so I wish the characters could have been developed a bit more, but I foresee that being done with the sequels.

Speaking of which, this would have been a weakness if a sequel was not released, but this is not really a movie that stands on its own. It very much ends on a “to be continued” tone. I didn’t mind too much because I am interested in seeing what lies ahead for these people and of course a sequel has been released so there is a continuation instead of an empty promise (unlike “The Golden Compass” and countless others) I’m curious to see more of Kaya Scodelario and Patricia Clarkson. I just hope the whole thing doesn’t turn into a mushy doomed romance.

As a first film by director Wes Ball, I don’t think this is a masterpiece, but it’s a pretty solid debut. Its perfectly workmanlike, gathered my and there aren’t really any glaring flaws, except for the fact that some of the secondary characters could have used more development to make them more three-dimensional. I like this movie and if it looks like your kind of story, I say go for it. (Ultraviolet version, September 18, 2015)