I've been waiting for this film for quite some time, and now that I had watched it, it's time to finally review it. This movie review is spoiler-free, so for those who haven't watch the movie yet, not to worry, you won't have the movie spoiled for you.
The Maze Runner is a science-fiction, action film based on the book of the same name by James Dashner, and starred Dylan O'Brien, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Ki Hong Lee, Aml Ameen, Kaya Scodelario, Will Poulter and Blake Cooper, among others. The movie is about a teenage boy named Thomas who woke up and find himself trapped in a center of a giant maze with no memory of his past life. Together with the rest of the boys in the maze, Thomas must race against time to uncover the secret of the maze and find his way to freedom.
First of all, let's start with the story that this movie is trying to tell. Is it good? Personally, I really like the story a lot. It is entertaining, it keeps me guessing on what's coming up next (yes, I haven't read the book), it has the right atmosphere of despair and desperation but at the same time not too dark that could make it not suitable for younger audiences. It has a mystery element in it too and I'm enjoying my journey trying to solve the puzzle and mystery of the maze with the characters. Based off a book, the movie certainly find its ways and shortcuts to explain certain key points from the book (you can actually notice it eventhough you have not read the book). While overall the plot is quite easy to understand, the movie certainly doesn't take its time to properly explain certain things. But don't worry, even though you feel like you were left off some minor plot points, you can still enjoy the movie and it doesn't impact your enjoyment of watching it either, well at least it didn't impact me, so hopefully it won't impact yours too.
I also like the film visually. The maze looked amazing, the Glade (which is what the center of the maze was called and where the boys lived) looked believable, and the Grievers' (the monsters that hunt them in the maze) design looked interesting too. The filmmakers made some interesting choice for this movie and I can say that it paid off because the movie looks amazing. I love when the movie showed how little the characters were compared to the maze's huge walls in the Glade, it truly displayed the gigantic size of the maze, and it looked so breathtaking. I love it! But some of the action sequences were a bit of a letdown; some scenes were a bit blurry especially when the action scenes were at night. You can't really make out what was going on and it was quite frustrating at times.
The cast did a good job of realizing their characters. I can see each of them (at least the major characters) with their own individuality that makes them different to each other, and that really say something when it comes to movies with a large cast like The Maze Runner. Thomas, Newt, Minho, Alby, Chuck, Teresa, Gally; the main characters are really well-realized. It's the minor characters that I have a problem with. Despite having distinct faces, I wasn't sure who some of them were; their names barely mentioned, they barely have dialogue (eventhough some of them did have more screen time than the others due to always being with the main characters), and the film did so little to incorporated them into the plot. I believe they are important too compared to the rest of the supporting cast members that filled The Glade, that was why I wished the filmmakers would have included them more in the movie, or at least makes it clear what their names were to the audiences, because eventhough they are not major characters, I'm cheering for them too to make out of the maze alive.
Despite having some minor flaws (which movie doesn't?), I really had fun watching The Maze Runner. It was certainly one of the best movies I watched this year. It was reported that pre-production had already begun for the sequel despite the movie having not released in most countries yet. I'm excited if that report is true! I'm certainly game for a sequel, and hopefully this film will perform good enough at the box-office to warrant for a sequel, because I feel that it certainly deserves it.
I give 4 1/4 stars out of 5 for The Maze Runner.
The Maze Runner Trailer
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