The Maze Runner Review

I recently went to the cinema to watch the new film ‘The Maze Runner’ which is based upon the novel by James Dashner. It is directed by Wes Ball, written by Noah Oppenheim, Grant Pierce Myers and T.S Nowlin and produced by Marty Bowen, Wyck Godfrey, Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, Gotham Group, Lee Stollman and Lindsay Williams. It was released on the 10^th October 2014 in the UK with a runtime of 113 minutes and the film was given a budget of $34,000,000. The three filming locations were all in the USA: Baton Rouge, Jackson and Plantation Village Studios. The Maze Runner covers the genres of action, mystery, sci-fi and thriller and due to intense scenes, it has been classified as a 12A.

Starring Dylan O’Brien (Thomas), Aml Ameen (Alby), Ki Hong Lee (Minho), Thomas Brodie-Sangster (Newt), Will Poulter (Gally) and Kaya Scodelario (Teresa), The Maze Runner is an entertaining film packed with suspense and non-stop action. The protagonist, Thomas wakes up to find himself in a small colony known as ‘The Glade’ containing many other teenage boys who have been individually placed there for a period of three years. They are surrounded by a perilous maze which appears to be their only escape and the highly trained ‘runners’ explore the maze during the daytime, attempting to figure a way out however, for the whole of the three years, they have had no success. At night, the walls of the maze close and the inside is protected by terrifying creatures named grievers and so far, not one person had survived a night in there. When the teenagers discover the unique bravery Thomas has when in the maze, Newt promotes him to being a runner which results in more clues being found and progress being made. However, when the first girl, Teresa arrives at The Glade, she has a note attached to her claiming she is the last person to be sent there and from this point onwards, everything changes.

I personally feel that the film had a very strong opening scene. It shows Thomas arriving at The Glade inside a lift, he is confused, frightened and has been completely wiped of memory so he does not remember anything about his past. We, as an audience, do not get to see Thomas’s past before this scene, meaning we are able to share his bewilderment and therefore relate and share a stronger connection with his character. The overall performances of the actors were good as they were able to display a wide range of emotions that were also felt by the audience however, I believe the characters did not show much of a development which left the film to be very predictable at times. The characters were also quite unrealistic for many reasons. For three years they have been trapped on one small area together yet they all seemed to get on extremely well and when Teresa makes an appearance, not one of the teenagers shows any desire for her which is very improbable. Another criticism is that we do not get to find out much about Teresa herself. After her arrival, she blends in too much with the narrative and does not stand out as a female protagonist which for me was very disappointing as I believe her contribution to the film should have been emphasised to a greater extent.

Despite this, Wes Ball made the desired themes of The Maze Runner clear through both narrative and performance. The most obvious theme is entrapment because the teenagers are trapped in the centre of the maze, for a reason they are not aware of, with no conspicuous escape and they are isolated, with no family surrounding them. Determination and courage is shown through Thomas when he makes the audacious decision to enter the maze even after being told it is immensely dangerous and that he would be putting his life at risk. Additionally, the theme of responsibility was shown through every character because each person has their own role within the community for example, being a runner or a farmer and the few that are ‘in charge’ of everyone have the role of punishing those who go against their responsibilities.

The cinematography is what stood out most for me in the film, especially when the characters are inside the maze as the grievers were creatively designed to look fearsome and intimidating. When Thomas is hiding from one of the grievers, there is no sound apart from him breathing to show that he is petrified and is trying to stay unnoticed however, when the griever spots and goes to attack him, the sound suddenly grows strikingly louder, alarming the audience and creating intensity. When inside the maze, the lighting is dark and mysterious which contrasts with the brighter lighting outside the maze, highlighting which area is safer to be in. The scenes in which Thomas is put in the pit by the other teenagers make an effective use of camera angles. When Thomas is being spoken to, a low angle is used of the teenagers to show that at the moment in time, they are more superior than him and hold a greater amount of power, whereas a high angle is used of Thomas to show that he is being looked down on because he is less superior.

Overall, The Maze Runner kept my attention the whole way through and I found the action scenes very enjoyable to watch. However, I feel that the narrative lacked originality and I could not help but compare it to films such as ‘The Hunger Games’ and ‘Lord Of The Flies’. I also believe that there should have been more obstacles within the maze, not just one type of creature, in order to make the film more exciting and less predictable.