Before I say anything, let me first state that I have not read this book, or any of the others in the series. I came into this knowing some things from the trailer, and that's pretty much it. I knew this would be different from the other young adult adaptations released recently (such as Divergent, all of which I didn't bother with) and my expectations were high. My two favorite films of all time are the two Hunger Games movies, so it was easy to compare this to them. Meanwhile, they both have their similarities and differences, but the latter are more evident. One thing that these can share are the quality, because though this may not be The Hunger Games, it's not too far away from its slayage. The film starts off right where you see it in the trailer, with Thomas (Dylan O'Brien) coming up from an elevator and not knowing a thing. I love how it began right off the bat - no details, backstory, nothing. A great thing about The Maze Runner is how we're stuck there with them and are also trying to find out as much information as we can. He finally learns about his surroundings but is still learning the ways of The Glade. Dylan was an amazing lead character for this and really pulled his way through for his first center role. Along the way, we see their travels as if we're actually going to be living there ourselves. Suspenseful and intense things continue to happen throughout it all, which always keeps you paying attention (even my mom, who usually falls asleep in the movie theater, made it the whole way through on this one.) A lot of the characters are very standard - the good guys are good and you root for them, but there's always a bad apple in the bunch, and you definitely don't use him.
Unfortunately, you get to like the good guys so much that ...*whimpers*... you shed a tear or two when the underdog dies right when they're about to be free.
A big situation the group has to deal with are the Grievers, which are basically robotic scorpions of some sort that can make you go crazy and turn very violent, or kill you. I wasn't anticipating these creatures but I gotta say that they weren't as scary as I anticipated, though there's still a few jump scares in there. I was also extremely impressed with, even with a smaller budget than most action flicks, the fact that Runner still provided some amazing effects in the maze. You always held your breath when they went inside, not knowing what they were gonna find. Your body always shook a little when you thought danger was near, and you never knew what to expect, just like the characters themselves. In other words: you were always reacting, and this movie sure knows how to grip. Even with 113 minute duration, the film still went quickly and packed major punches. I was also in love with the ending, which was incredibly interesting and full of twists, but the
"Phase 2" line at the end
definitely has me excited for what's to come.
THE VERDICT: ★★★★ 3/4
97%, A+
A very enjoyable thrill ride from start to finish, with a start that'll suck you in and
an ending that'll spit you out and leave you wanting more. Great start to The Maze Runner series.
Before I say anything, let me first state that I have not read this book, or any of the others in the series. I came into this knowing some things from the trailer, and that's pretty much it. I knew this would be different from the other young adult adaptations released recently (such as Divergent, all of which I didn't bother with) and my expectations were high. My two favorite films of all time are the two Hunger Games movies, so it was easy to compare this to them. Meanwhile, they both have their similarities and differences, but the latter are more evident. One thing that these can share are the quality, because though this may not be The Hunger Games, it's not too far away from its slayage. The film starts off right where you see it in the trailer, with Thomas (Dylan O'Brien) coming up from an elevator and not knowing a thing. I love how it began right off the bat - no details, backstory, nothing. A great thing about The Maze Runner is how we're stuck there with them and are also trying to find out as much information as we can. He finally learns about his surroundings but is still learning the ways of The Glade. Dylan was an amazing lead character for this and really pulled his way through for his first center role. Along the way, we see their travels as if we're actually going to be living there ourselves. Suspenseful and intense things continue to happen throughout it all, which always keeps you paying attention (even my mom, who usually falls asleep in the movie theater, made it the whole way through on this one.) A lot of the characters are very standard - the good guys are good and you root for them, but there's always a bad apple in the bunch, and you definitely don't use him.
Unfortunately, you get to like the good guys so much that ...*whimpers*... you shed a tear or two when the underdog dies right when they're about to be free.
A big situation the group has to deal with are the Grievers, which are basically robotic scorpions of some sort that can make you go crazy and turn very violent, or kill you. I wasn't anticipating these creatures but I gotta say that they weren't as scary as I anticipated, though there's still a few jump scares in there. I was also extremely impressed with, even with a smaller budget than most action flicks, the fact that Runner still provided some amazing effects in the maze. You always held your breath when they went inside, not knowing what they were gonna find. Your body always shook a little when you thought danger was near, and you never knew what to expect, just like the characters themselves. In other words: you were always reacting, and this movie sure knows how to grip. Even with 113 minute duration, the film still went quickly and packed major punches. I was also in love with the ending, which was incredibly interesting and full of twists, but the
"Phase 2" line at the end
definitely has me excited for what's to come.
THE VERDICT: ★★★★ 3/4
97%, A+
A very enjoyable thrill ride from start to finish, with a start that'll suck you in and
an ending that'll spit you out and leave you wanting more. Great start to The Maze Runner series.
Right?! Ugh god. I was so ****ing bored. I was like "just end, seriously put me out of my misery." And by the end I just started laughing. I was like "are you serious...?" It made no sense. Teenagers will believe anything so long as there are hot, young leads.
I'm so annoyed too because my friend and I were tossing up between that and The Maze Runner, and after seeing it get all this acclaim, it's obvious we made the wrong choice.
at all of em
