Review of The Maze Runner (2014) by Steviegjd — 18 Sep 2014

This move felt like more of a setup for the next movie in the franchise than any movie I've ever seen. I did not read the book. For me, it had moments of tension, moments of obviously overwrought conflict and moments of action/sci fi potential greatness.

There were far too few of the latter, but enough to keep you in the game. After Elysium and The Giver (among others), do we really need another evil, manipulative, corporate, blond sleazebag at the center of the controversy? Could the bad guy be any more simplified and obvious? As I understand it, the screenwriters actually toned the bad guy down too, which makes one wonder how ridiculous he was in the book.

Do we really need an ending that is 100% about the franchise? It was so clearly tailored to be the launch of a movie franchise that I actually heard a notable gasp in the theater, which is not a good sign.

The only meaningful female character had no story and no point, other than as a plot device (which could have been accomplished other ways). They don't even deal with the clear sexual tension of dropping a single young female into a world of adolescent males, which is cowardice.

But, I actually liked the movie. It was, more or less, well paced. The conflict seemed honest. The young male actors were pretty good, though it was hard to see the bad guy being portrayed by the kid from "We're the Millers.

" The monsters were an interesting combination of organic and technology, but were otherwise unexplained. At the end, one is left with the notion that this could end up being a good story, but that this is only a limp preamble.

I hope this is the case, as I would like to see what happens next.