Review of The Maze Runner (2014) by Ben L — 28 Dec 2016

The Maze Runner is a deeply flawed film that had a few scenes and a general concept that were strong enough to keep me from hating it. The idea of this society of young men who are trapped in a glade surrounded by a dangerous maze was intriguing. I wanted to know why this was happening, and how they would escape the maze. The premise had me hooked, but the way it was handled and the pay-off at the end were so disappointing it seems this might have been the first big mistake that led to the downfall of the Young-Adult-novel-based movies.

Problem #1 - The entire cast is bland. There isn't a single performance that worked for me and made me care about the characters. Even the lead, played by Dylan O'Brien, lacks any charm.

Problem #2 - They constantly undercut the interesting premise. *SPOILERS* So there's this maze and they're going to have to explore and find out how it works and how to get out, right? No, they've already mapped out the whole maze, and they just need to luck into a solution that will unlock something that is just a straight path and not a maze at all. But there's probably some fascinating reason that this is happening to the characters, right? No, it's just YA trope #1, a dystopian future government who wants to test children to weed out the most capable specimens.

Problem #3 - This is part one in a series, and not even close to being a complete story. There are a few different things that happen in The Maze Runner that are utterly pointless to this movie, but just feel like setup for the next installment. There's a girl introduced who literally does NOTHING, and yet there are flashes that she might have some significance in the future. They even leave the film on a cliffhanger where certain aspects of the story are never explained and it is implied that this movie was just phase one of their testing.

While The Maze Runner did contain annoying aspects, I wasn't expecting much from it, so I have to give it credit for at least making me care a little in the early scenes. In fact, I could be enough of a glutton for punishment that I might check out the sequel just to see what happens next. However, there's no way I would suggest anyone else waste their time on this movie.