Starring: Dylan O'Brien, Kaya Scodelario, and Will Poulter
Directed by: Wes Ball
Screenplay by: Noah Oppenheim, T.S. Nowlin, and Grant Pierce Meyers
Based on the novel by James Dashner
Is this an aMAZEing film? Sorry, pun intended. Read on to find out.
Thomas (Dylan O'Brien) is thrown into a group of boys that are trapped inside a maze. They have no memory either. They're trapped in a part of the maze they call "the Glade". Each month, a box shows up with another boy and some supplies for the boys already in the Glade. There are enough of them that they have been able to form an order. The "runners" are part of this order and their job is to spend each day mapping the maze in order to find a way out. The maze keeps changing every night, making it quite difficult to find a way out. There are also creatures called Grievers they have to contend with. Runners who don't return at the end of the day usually don't survive the night because of these Grievers.
Shortly after Thomas arrives, a girl named Teresa (Kaya Scodelario) arrives in the box. Something is changing and the boys who have been in the Glade longer are worried. They figure that Thomas has something to do with Teresa's arrival and the hope of finally finding a way out of the maze. Will Thomas be able to find a way out once he becomes the next runner?
If you're thinking that this is another storyline that seems like it's based loosely on that of The Hunger Games, chances are, you're not the only one. I'm sure a lot of people are thinking that there have been a lot of things that seem like spin offs of the Hunger Games; I'm looking at you Divergent series. Fortunately, I like stories like this.
At first, we aren't given much information about the back story. The first shot of the film is Thomas waking up in the box as he arrives at the Glade. Unless the scene involves the runners going beyond the Glade and into the maze, that's where almost the entire film takes place. We mostly see the boys living their lives in the Glade trying to survive until the runners return one day with news of a way out of the maze. We don't find out much of the back story until the last ten minutes or so of the film. While this bothers the hell out of me (because I like to know just about everything about the world these characters are in before much of the action begins), it actually makes for a better film. If I say what happens, I would be spoiling the film. We wouldn't want that now, would we?
I've heard of just about nobody in this film. These are actors who, one may have seen in some films or TV shows before, but are still mostly unknown. This is a positive aspect of the film in my mind. In the future, when we see these actors in films (and I'm sure we will because they are pretty good in their respective roles), we will probably think of them as their characters from the Maze Runner series.
Many times in a sci-fi film, we will see some special effects that are cheesy and some that look pretty real. This film is much heavier on the effects that look real than on the effects that look clearly fake. The walls of the maze look real, which is the important thing for me. The grievers don't look very real at all, and in some instances look like cheesy effects; mostly in the fast paced, action packed scenes.
Overall, this is a film in which its trailer does not do it justice. The trailer makes the film look only okay, whereas this is quite the good film. I was not terribly excited about the film, but now, I'm looking forward to the sequel, which isn't supposed to come out until next year. This is a series that is captivating from the start and will get you excited about what is going to happen next.
I give The Maze Runner a B+.
Directed by: Wes Ball
Screenplay by: Noah Oppenheim, T.S. Nowlin, and Grant Pierce Meyers
Based on the novel by James Dashner
Is this an aMAZEing film? Sorry, pun intended. Read on to find out.
Thomas (Dylan O'Brien) is thrown into a group of boys that are trapped inside a maze. They have no memory either. They're trapped in a part of the maze they call "the Glade". Each month, a box shows up with another boy and some supplies for the boys already in the Glade. There are enough of them that they have been able to form an order. The "runners" are part of this order and their job is to spend each day mapping the maze in order to find a way out. The maze keeps changing every night, making it quite difficult to find a way out. There are also creatures called Grievers they have to contend with. Runners who don't return at the end of the day usually don't survive the night because of these Grievers.
Shortly after Thomas arrives, a girl named Teresa (Kaya Scodelario) arrives in the box. Something is changing and the boys who have been in the Glade longer are worried. They figure that Thomas has something to do with Teresa's arrival and the hope of finally finding a way out of the maze. Will Thomas be able to find a way out once he becomes the next runner?
If you're thinking that this is another storyline that seems like it's based loosely on that of The Hunger Games, chances are, you're not the only one. I'm sure a lot of people are thinking that there have been a lot of things that seem like spin offs of the Hunger Games; I'm looking at you Divergent series. Fortunately, I like stories like this.
At first, we aren't given much information about the back story. The first shot of the film is Thomas waking up in the box as he arrives at the Glade. Unless the scene involves the runners going beyond the Glade and into the maze, that's where almost the entire film takes place. We mostly see the boys living their lives in the Glade trying to survive until the runners return one day with news of a way out of the maze. We don't find out much of the back story until the last ten minutes or so of the film. While this bothers the hell out of me (because I like to know just about everything about the world these characters are in before much of the action begins), it actually makes for a better film. If I say what happens, I would be spoiling the film. We wouldn't want that now, would we?
I've heard of just about nobody in this film. These are actors who, one may have seen in some films or TV shows before, but are still mostly unknown. This is a positive aspect of the film in my mind. In the future, when we see these actors in films (and I'm sure we will because they are pretty good in their respective roles), we will probably think of them as their characters from the Maze Runner series.
Many times in a sci-fi film, we will see some special effects that are cheesy and some that look pretty real. This film is much heavier on the effects that look real than on the effects that look clearly fake. The walls of the maze look real, which is the important thing for me. The grievers don't look very real at all, and in some instances look like cheesy effects; mostly in the fast paced, action packed scenes.
Overall, this is a film in which its trailer does not do it justice. The trailer makes the film look only okay, whereas this is quite the good film. I was not terribly excited about the film, but now, I'm looking forward to the sequel, which isn't supposed to come out until next year. This is a series that is captivating from the start and will get you excited about what is going to happen next.
I give The Maze Runner a B+.
Comments
Post a Comment