Warning – This post contains spoilers. Do not read if you don’t want to read spoilers!
Based on the book of the same name by James Dashner, The Maze Runner is the latest big sci-fi/post-apocalyptic blockbuster to hit our cinema screens. Tipped as the next Hunger Games, I had high hopes for this film.
The basic plot revolves around a teenage boy called Thomas (played by Teen Wolf star Dylan O’Brien), who wakes up in a glade in the middle of a giant labyrinth, with no recollection of how he got there, or even his own name. He quickly learns from the other boys who arrived there before him that they are trapped in the maze, with little hope of ever finding a way out.
Disturbed by strange dreams which hint to his past, Thomas tries to piece things together and soon discovers that he is different from the others, and is determined to take on the maze and become a ‘Runner’ – a group of boys that run into the maze daily when the concrete doors open in an attempt to map it out and find a means of escape.
Lurking within the maze are ‘Grievers’, huge mechanical spider-like creatures that attempt to kill anyone that crosses their path and have a painful, deadly sting. So far – pretty Hunger Games, with a little Harry Potter thrown in for good measure (the maze is reminiscent of the one in Goblet of Fire, the Grievers like deadlier versions of the formidable spiders found in the Forbidden Forest).
Things get even more strange when a girl called Teresa arrives at the Glade and instantly recognises Thomas. Teresa is played by Skins graduate Kaya Scodelario, sporting a rather unconvincing American accent (though not nearly as bad as Emma Watson’s in The Perks of Being a Wallflower. God help us). Just why the directors instructed Kaya to put on an American accent when UK actors such as Thomas Sangster (Jojen in Game of Thrones) retain their British accents is beyond me.
Alas, this is the least of our worries. It turns out that the two syringes Teresa arrives with contain the cure for the Griever’s sting – in addition, the antidote recovers the memory of the recipient. It is through injecting himself with the liquid that Thomas discovers that it is him and Teresa who are partly responsible for the boys’ captivity in the maze, and that they are part of an experiment hosted by an organisation with rather misguided ideas about what is best for the greater good.
The rest of the film gets very strange indeed, with many surprises along the way. It’s a gripping watch, with a fair share of jumpy and edge-of-your-seat moments, and good performances from its cast. However, there is something about this film that just doesn’t fully hit the mark. The ending I felt was also a let-down, with a twist of TV series Lost proportions, obviously paving the way for the sequel The Scorch Trials which is based on the second instalment of the book trilogy. For those who haven’t read the book (like me), it is questionable as to whether there is a burning desire to find out what happens next in the story. Somehow, there are elements of The Maze Runner that just aren’t believable, perhaps due to a lack of explanation of certain things in this first movie.
With two films left in the trilogy, and two prequels in the book series, there are still lots of secrets and plot twists to be revealed in this story. Only time will tell if The Maze Runner will repeat the success of The Hunger Games and sustain the interest of its viewers.
RATING: 6/10
Sammii SpaceCat 