THE MAZE RUNNER (2014) MOVIE NEWS & REVIEW

the maze runner (2014) movie

Genre              |   Science Fiction

Classification   |   M

Running time   |   113 minutes

Released         |   18 September 2014

cast

Dylan O'Brien ... Thomas
Aml Ameen ... Alby
Ki Hong Lee ... Minho
Blake Cooper ... Chuck
Thomas Brodie-Sangster ... Newt
Will Poulter ... Gally
Dexter Darden ... Frypan
Kaya Scodelario ... Teresa
​Patricia Clarkson ... Ava Paige

director

Wes Ball

writer

​Noah Oppenheim ... (screenplay by) and
Grant Pierce Myers ... (screenplay by) and
T.S. Nowlin ... (screenplay by)
 
James Dashner ... (based upon the novel by)

cinematographer

​Enrique Chediak ... director of photography

music

​John Paesano

film editor

Dan Zimmerman ​

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box office result

Worldwide               $348,319,861  

Australia                 $​13,903,824

North America        $​​​​​​​​102,427,862

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movie minuitae

​W.C.K.D is pronounced as wicked, because in the book the acronym was W.I.C.K.E.D.; standing for World In Catastrophe, Killzone Experiment Department.

​The first 20th Century Fox film to be an all-digital release, with no 35mm prints made.

At the end of the film, the writer of the book; James Dashner, made a cameo appearance as one of the boards men. It is the scene at the end where Ava Paige is talking, and the camera zooms in on her. The man on her right, is James Dashner.

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THE MAZE RUNNER (2014) MOVIE IMAGES

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THE MAZE RUNNER (2014) STORY SYNOPSIS

The mysteries of the Maze hold them hostage...

When Thomas (Dylan O'Brien) wakes up trapped in a massive maze with a group of other boys, he has no memory of the outside world other than strange dreams about a mysterious organization known as W.C.K.D. Only by piecing together fragments of his past with clues he discovers in the maze can Thomas hope to uncover his true purpose and a way to escape. Based on the best-selling novel by James Dashner.

THE MAZE RUNNER (2014) MOVIE REVIEW

Reviewed by Mark Geraghty   |   Review date 17 September 2014

Pop ​Movee Rating

THE MAZE RUNNER is another entry into the young adult dystopian future sub-genre of science fiction action films that have become a trend in the wake of the success of THE HUNGER GAMES.

The story opens with the arrival of a young man into a concrete prison among a community of modern lost boys where the only thing anyone can remember is their name.

The young man, played by Dylan O’Brien, learns that his name is Thomas and, for some unknown reason, he has been sent to ‘The Glade’; a place where there is only one way in and no way out. Thomas learns quickly that the group of young men who live in ‘The Glade’ have found a way to sustain themselves and build a rudimentary community based on a set of agreed rules.

One of the most fundamental rules is that no one goes into ‘The Maze’, the entrance of which is an imposing concrete gate at the far end of ‘The Glade’ that opens early in the morning and closes in the early hours of the night.

The group’s leader, Alby, played by Aml Ameen, explains to Thomas that the group have built their community based on observance of the rules and that, to fit it, Thomas must obey them. Natural curiosity gets the better of Thomas and he immediately looks to ‘The Maze’ as a means of escape. This brings him into conflict with the group’s ‘muscle’, Gally, played by Will Poulter. To his frustration, Thomas also learns that an elite group of boys known as ‘Runners’ are allowed to enter the maze and are tasked with surveying the entirety of the massive structure.

THE MAZE RUNNER is based on the successful young adult novel by James Dashner that was first published in 2009. The film’s screenplay stays close to its source material except for minor alterations such as changing the book’s slug-like Grievers to the more visually arresting cross between a spider and a machine.

The film’s plot starts to move forward when Thomas is attacked by Ben, one of the maze runners, who has been attacked by a Stinger; a spider-like creature that inhabits the maze at night. The group are at a loss to explain the attack and, having contravened one of the group’s fundamental rules of ‘do no harm to one another, Alby decides that Ben must be banished to the maze.

The next day Alby and Minho, the most experienced ‘Runner’, played by Ki Hong Lee, go into the maze in search of answers as to why Ben attacked Thomas. The pair return as the maze gate starts to close, but Alby has been attacked by a Grieverr and is unable to run. In an effort to help Minho, Thomas launches himself through the gate only to see it close behind him. Thomas quickly devises a plan to save Alby, but Minho deserts him when they are confronted face-to-face by a Stinger. A gripping chase through the maze ensues, as Thomas is pursued relentlessly through the labyrinth puzzle. Thomas decides to turn defence into attack and uses himself as bait, luring the Griever into one of the long maze corridors just as it starts to close. As the Stinger is just about on top of Thomas, everything goes black and the audience is left to wonder whether Thomas lives or dies.

This scene goes to the heart of some of the challenges of THE MAZE RUNNER.

The screenplay mixes a lot of genres together, but it never quite finds its own unique identity. The confrontation between Thomas and the Griever is entertaining, but many films that have come before it have executed it better and the result here is a mixture of cliche and contrivance.

The mixing of genres also contributes to an uneven tone and pacing throughout the film.

Moments of quiet tension all of a sudden become frenetic set action pieces and, just as quickly, revert back or simply move to the next piece of exposition required to shuffle the plot forward. The pity of all of this is that a tighter screenplay with more focus on the mystery of why these young adults have been placed in the maze would have resulted in a much better film.

Director Wes Ball’s desire to deliver the set-pieces inside the maze make for a lesser film, as these action sequences are pretty run-of-the-mill. In a similar fashion, an all-out attack by the Griever’s on the Gladers compound makes little sense within the story and seems to have been written as an action sequence to open the film’s Third Act with a bang. Not that the action is poorly executed. It’s solid film-making and will, without doubt, appeal to younger audiences who have an expectation that this type of film will deliver its fair share of excitement.

In addition to tone, THE MAZE RUNNER is reliant on its group of young actors to keep the film moving toward its conclusion. Unlike the HARRY POTTER or THE HUNGER GAMES movies, there’s no Alan Rickman, Gary Oldman, Donald Sutherland or Phillip Seymour Hoffman to provide seasoned character actors to support a cast of relative unknowns.

Not that this is the actor’s fault.

While there are a number of flashback scenes featuring adults, there’s never any reliance on adults in the screenplay.

Dylan O’Brien, who plays Thomas, turns in a solid performance and, given how much of the film he carries, does a good job at delivering a young action hero. Aml Ameen as Alby is also good, but his presence is diminished in the second half of the film, which is a shame.

Out of all the actors, Ameen seems the most comfortable in his role. Ki Hong Lee as the lead Maze Runner Minho is also solid and, in tandem with Tomas, is the clear stand-out in the second half of the story as the Gladers are forced to confront the reality of what is happening around them.

Unfortunately, one performance drags the film down.

Will Poulter as Gally is one-note and awkward throughout the movie. His character is poorly written, but Wes Ball’s direction of this young man is lacking and his reactions in the face of impending disaster are written to make him look stupid, juvenile and petulant.

Kaya Scodelario as Teresa does what she is meant to do, but is hardly memorable. There’s a sense with the appearance of this character that THE MAZE RUNNER is checking off all the elements that are required to bring a young adult dystopian science fiction story to the screen. 

THE MAZE RUNNER also suffers from the same fate that saw THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 criticised by a wide range of reviewers, fans and viewers earlier in 2014.

Much of THE MAZE RUNNER’s screenplay is dedicated to trying to establish a mythology that may or may not be successful at establishing an appropriate level of interest if any of the subsequent novels in this series are to become feature films.

At various stages, clues are revealed about what may be behind the maze, the Stingers and the group of young adults who live there. Unfortunately, these clues, much like the Griever chase sequence with Thomas, don’t seem like organic off-shoots of the narrative and are very deliberately placed so that the audience has no choice but to see or hear them.

Any screenwriter or film maker looking to establish a mythology around these youth-picture properties should revisit the HARRY POTTER series for a lesson in how to build meaningful clues and plant information for future films.

The POTTER series always used the information within the framework of the particular story being told in the film, so it was meaningful in the progression narrative. However, if you take the example of the Horcruxes in the Potter films; each subsequent Horcrux became more meaningful as all of them came closer to being completely assembled as the movie’s progressed.

​It’s admirable for film makers to consider their viewers who may be familiar with the literary source material, but, in the case of THE MAZE RUNNER, Wes Ball needed to put together a strong youth-oriented action film that appealed to a broad commercial audience in order to guarantee that future instalments for the series had a chance. Trying to telegraph the future course of the series so early detracts from the impact of what is before the viewer there and then, not two or three years down the track at a time when the “inevitable” sequel will be released.

THE MAZE RUNNER MOVIE (2014) USEFUL LINKS

The Maze Runner (film) - Wikipedia
​The Maze Runner (2014) - IMDb
​The Maze Runner (2014) - Rotten Tomatoes

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