The Maze Runner (Review)

WARNING: MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS

The Maze Runner, the first book in the The Maze Runner trilogy, came out as a movie on September 19, 2014. It earned almost 62 million dollars at the box office as of October 2, 2014. The Maze Runner’s main character is Thomas, a teenage boy who finds himself trapped in a rapidly accelerating elevator with only his name as a memory. When he reaches his destination, he meets a large group of boys, all teenagers, who tell him that he is now in what they call “The Glade.”

The Glade is a wide expanse of meadow with a forest to one side that is surrounded entirely by concrete walls that seem to stretch as high as the clouds. Most of the boys trapped in the Glade have been there for years, depending on each other as well as themselves for food, shelter, and various other needs. What Thomas soon finds out, is that the walls surrounding the Glade protect the Gladers from something much worse than being stranded… Grievers.

Grievers are the terrifying creatures that inhabit the Maze beyond the walls of the Glade. The boys who are selected to run in the Maze and are trying to find a way out for all of them must beware these creatures as they go. With a Griever’s sting, people tend to go a little bit crazy and start to regain their memories of before the Glade. This leads to Alby and a couple others attacking Thomas at different times in the movie. A Griever can also kill someone by sucking them into its fleshy, gooey body. No one who stayed the night in the maze has ever lived to tell the tale.

The Maze Runner trilogy written by James Dashner, was published back in 2009, and, since then, has been a hit especially with teenagers. I, personally, am a huge fan of The Maze Runner trilogy, so I was naturally excited, and a little bit wary, to see the movie adaptation. I drove to the Westfield mall theater with four of my friends to watch the movie. Most of the people with me were very excited because Dylan O’Brien, the actor who played Thomas, is also one of the main characters in Teen Wolf. We all know him as the loveable Stiles Stilinski, who has good intentions, but always seems to get into trouble. All of us were intrigued by the idea that he would be playing a more serious role in which he would not resemble Stiles at all. Speaking for all girls everywhere, there is no hiding the fact that Dylan O’Brien is extremely attractive. Not only that, but he is a great actor. He is very well known amongst teenagers, so he was the perfect choice to play Thomas.

Since my friend and roommate, Courtney, is possibly the biggest Dylan O’Brien fan and she hadn’t read the books, I figured she would be the perfect person to review the movie.

This is Courtney. I was interviewing her rather late in the evening so she wasn’t too thrilled to be photographed. After much begging and pleading, she got over it and said she would be willing to answer the few questions about the cast, the atmosphere, and just the movie in general so I could gain a better understanding of how she felt about it. Before I even went into the questions, I asked her what the atmosphere of the movie theater was like. She said that it was very “chill.” There were not many people there, so she felt like she could express herself throughout the movie. The people that were there were very mellow and quiet. This set up a perfect environment to watch the movie and really enjoy it. Now for the questions…

1. What did you think about the plot?

“I didn’t see it coming!” she responded immediately. Since she had no previous knowledge of The Maze Runner, she found the plot twists to be exciting and different than what she thought they would be. Clearly, from the beginning, Dylan was different, but the extent of his difference was unknown until the very end. Overall, she concluded that, “It was amazing!”

2. What did you think of the cast?

Being such an intense Dylan O’Brien fan, Courtney immediately brought him up in the conversation. After her initial fangirl outburst, she talked about how she enjoyed watching him transition from a television show, Teen Wolf, to the big screen. She admires how versatile an actor he is, and how amazing he is in every role she has seen him in. He is just as great playing a silly, good humored teenager as he is playing a character possessed by an evil spirit. During even the first scene of the Maze Runner movie, she just knew that “Dylan’s about to blow this up!” He would be the one to carry the explosive scenes and make the plot seem real for the audience. From her past experiences watching Dylan as an actor, she knew that he would put his all into his role as Thomas. He seems to truly immerse himself in the roles that he plays, and because of that, he never disappoints his fans.

Will Poulter, who played Gally, was the next actor mentioned. Gally was a hard-headed Glader who was suspicious of Thomas from the very beginning. He knew there was something wrong when Thomas showed up in the “box” and then the first and only girl came up just a few days later. Up until the very end, he rebelled against Thomas, therefore rebelling against Alby and Newt as well. Will Poulter’s previous role in We Are the Millers was extremely different than his role in the Maze Runner. We Are the Millers was a comedy in which Poulter’s character was a bit laughable. Because of this, people who had already seen We Are the Millers found it hard to enjoy his acting in a serious role.

Despite everything she said previously, Courtney believed that he truly did a wonderful job in The Maze Runner, and hoped he would expand his acting career to more versatile roles in the future. He seemed very professional, like he knew what he was doing, and that he would be a great upcoming actor to watch out for.

Another cast member that came up was Ki Hong Lee, the actor who played Minho.

Generally, Courtney said, “The cast was really awesome because they put the somewhat well-known character as the center and surrounded him with actors that were slightly less known than him.” Also, she pointed out the fact that there were several fresh faces that she had never seen in movies before. She liked the fact that the same people she always sees in movies were replaced because she felt the characters’ personalities more deeply. If you know an actor from a previous job they have done, it is very hard to separate them from that character in your mind. They will always be thought of as the first role you had seen them in, even if you see them in many other roles.

3. What did you think about the Grievers?

She was confused as to why the creatures were half flesh and half mechanical. They did not really do a good job of explaining why in the movie. They were very unattractive and they didn’t seem to want to change that anytime soon.

4. What did you think of the Maze and the Glade in general?

About the Maze, Courtney really liked the idea of the corridors changing every night. It gave the Maze a more mysterious and sinister quality to it. When the Gladers were around the campfire at night and bonding, she felt like she was back at the summer camp she used to attend as a kid. The homey experience of having friends surrounding you and even sleeping on hammocks was very comforting. “It was relaxing to me!” she laughs. Even though the Gladers were trapped in the Glade with almost no hope of getting out, they made the best of what they could with what they had.

5. How did you feel about the end?

Courtney’s immediate reaction was, “I was so confused! I really need to read the books now!” When the Gladers left the Maze and came up to the WCKD laboratory, they found out that they were part of an experiment bigger than themselves. Solar flares had burned the earth and were causing a disease called the Flare. For some reason, teenagers were able to resist the Flare, so the scientists responsible for putting the Gladers in the Glade wanted to study them. Unfortunately, their plans for the Gladers did not end with the Maze. The scientists faked their own deaths and then are seen meeting in a conference room, wiping the fake blood off of their faces as the Gladers are “rescued” by rebels.

The whole idea of the scientists faking their own deaths made Courtney’s upset. Although they had reasons for tricking the Gladers, it was a little extreme to fake their own deaths. She did not see it coming that the Gladers were still under the influence of WCKD. She hoped they would be able to return to their families after the whole Maze nightmare.

In the media today, there are so many science fiction movies that are storming the box offices. The Maze Runner is the most recent among many that have attracted teenagers and adults alike to their creative plots and fresh-faced cast. Over all, my friends and I were in agreement that The Maze Runner was not a movie to forget. The plotline was thrilling, keeping us on the edge of our seats the entire time. Although the director took some creative liberties, it seemed necessary to further the plot. It is very hard for me to admit this, but the movie is definitely worth seeing, even if you have already read the book.