The Maze Boring.
World Catastrophe Killzone Department, or W.C.K.D., wicked. And I thought SHIELD acronym was lame!
:weary:
So, the Sun scorched Earth's surface, and simultaneously, a virus turned the survivors into zombies. Man, talk about bad luck! But no problem, there are a few children who happen to be inmune to the virus, so, instead of developing a vaccine or a cure, let's build a huge Hunger Games style arena with some deadly cyborg robots, throw the children there, and if they somehow survive, then... Huh, you know what? I'll tell you what happens, but in the sequel.
No wonder why this movie is so very fast paced. If they slowed down for a second, people would realize how extremely stupid it is.
A tribe of young men seek answers in a mysterious, synthetic environment. I enjoyed the setup, and the blunt ground rules of the world itself (we're surrounded by a giant labyrinth that seals itself and shifts mechanically every sundown - don't get caught inside when it does), but the cast is perilously dry and boring, so naturally we spend way too much time getting to know them. Dylan O'Brien is particularly bad as Thomas, a savior who pushes the complacent society to break out of their strongholds and pursue a method of escape. His is a special kind of anti-charisma, blank and wooden and static... stupid handsome, like an underwear model.
Occasional jaunts into the maze itself are the real draw of this film, and clearly the most entertaining bits, but they're bafflingly few and far between. Why revel in the atmosphere when instead you could be setting up sequels with a set of fatally-flawed characters, I guess? Not that the plot is all that competent, either. Think too hard and you'll surely slip into one of the broad holes scattering its landscape.
It's a middling effort in every sense of the word. Outside of the maze, which is a nice (if brief) breath of clear air, the rest of this film's concepts and ideas have already been done many times before, by more complete rivals. Even the CG-heavy monsters don't trigger a reaction - I think I recognized them from the lower levels of hell in Doom 2, circa 1994.
Unexpectedly more interesting than I was anticipating, but also more of a let-down. There's an immense set-up and big questions asked that are payed off in the least satisfying way that only works to set up the rest of the franchise. Now, that said I am actually intrigued to know where the story goes from here because I legitimately was not even kind of expecting that the entire world that was ominously built in the first half would be completely thrown out by the end only suggesting that we'll never see that maze again lol.
But really, I think what was the most interesting about The Maze Runner is how I somehow knew absolutely nothing about it. The first book came out when I was 14. I had kind of moved out of young adult fiction at that point, but I had friends that were younger than me so I'm kind of shocked that I knew literally zilch about this story. I never read a page of these books, I never even saw a trailer for these films. They only popped up on my radar when my younger cousin mentioned the films to me a few years ago and then I realized that director Wes Ball also went to my alma mater. It's kind of cool, I guess, for my involvement with these stories because it means I am going in 100% blind with actually zero expectations. To me, this is just something in the vein of The Hunger Games, which admittedly, wasn't my cup of tea at the time they were coming out. So to be honest, despite the incessant franchise setup I actually found myself having a pretty good time watching The Maze Runner.
I'll go on a tangent. I grew up with Harry Potter and, like so many people in the world, they were foundational to my upbringing and my identity. They still are, to be honest. I re-read them frequently. I love them very much. But the older I get and the more I interact with young adult epics as an adult, the more I realize just how good those novels really are. We can go back on forth about them on a literary level and the artistic rigor of Rowling's prose, but what I mean here is the storytelling of the series. Rowling keyed into loss, tragedy, ambivalence of humanity, and evil really well, but did it all through an incredibly charming and whimsical lens. Central to this is Harry's characterization. He's a boy not unlike Thomas in how he begins his journey, but the arc that he goes through has a significantly more weighty piece of development. It's about self-worth. It's about overcoming adversity through strength of character and I've always linked Harry's struggles to my own struggles with depression. Thomas, although more charismatic from the get-go, doesn't feel like there's a whole lot for him to grow into. That's okay. It's not really about that in The Maze Runner, but it just makes me love the YA series of my youth that much more.
I watched this knowing nothing about the story, and it felt like the script was put out by the NerdGarbageBot (https://twitter.com/nerdgarbagebot).
Pitch:
Imagine if the Hunger games were set in the third trial of the Triwizard Tournament, but set in a dystopian future
I think that about covers it.
Was mildly entertained, though.
Horrible. The story makes no sense at all!
Ok, after second and third movie the story makes sense. But still in retrospective, just seeing only this first movie, you end up with loads of questions... ;)
Another year, another teen struggling to survive in a dystopian future. The need to setup future sequels means that the story is incomplete, making it difficult to tell whether any of this is worth it. There are also some incredible plot inconsistencies with the setup and unlike other films of this ilk, there is no attempt to tell a self-contained story or develop a theme for the film itself - this is simply Part 1 with more to come. That said, the central premise is intriguing, largely because the hows and whys remain shrouded in mystery for much of the film. The cast are likeable enough and there are some interesting plot developments that are revealed that keep the film engaging, Completely unoriginal, but equally better than most other films in this genre post-Hunger Games.
This movie could've been a real masterpiece of sociopolitical commentary if they replaced the evil manipulative scientists with greedy Hollywood producers.
Yeah, not a bad movie. The dialogue and approach of the characters was just a little silly I think. Years they have been there and not until Thomas arrives do they see anything 'happening' with heir daily lives. Shown a possible 'out' the community that was once happy to accept their position in life and the rules of the game suddenly put all their energies behind Thomas' vision. I don't buy it!
The film is a bad adaptation. Is very simple and they dont make you feel anything about the characters. Is boring and very fast.
nothing important, boring and lack of believe. The characters did some stupid things and don't let me start about the ending.
I thought it had a great start, you didn't really know what's happening and what to expect (didn't read the book). But going on, the movie developed typical stereotypes:
It's in this pattern non-different to many other movies that just came out (Hunger Games, Divergent, etc.), but in a more general sense follows a lot of movies. So arround the middle I got pretty bored, as the yet original start became more and more transparent with no supprises at all. Very unfortunate, could have been a great movie, if it had tried something new.
Btw. I didn't read the book, so my short review does not take that into consideration.
THIS. IS. SO. GOOD. the kind of movie i can see a thousand times and it will never get bored
Look at us..we're in a maze.. how do we get outta this maze.. mazes can blow aardvarks
Its alright. Some decent action. Entertaining enough but not the best young adult movie around this time. It funny seeing Will Poulter in anything after seeing him in Detroit (2017).
I had no idea what to expect with this film and for me it was a pleasant surprise. An action packed film with twists and turns all the way through.
I really enjoyed this movie. I can't wait to see a follow up, seeing as the ending was so vague and I just ended up with even more questions.. Who is running this thing? Who are the good people and who are the bad? What is happening to the world? Why are kids chosen to be in the maze, and why were there only boys in the beginning? GAHH I need answers!
Would reccomend to anyone who likes to watch dystopian worlds or cute boys (many girls will love this movie, I couldn't get enough of Dylan O'Brien and Thomas Brodie-Sangster) So far it is way different from movies like The Hunger Games, they haven't played any romance card yet, which could be either good or bad, depending on what you like. I'm hoping for something to happen, as long as it doesn't take such a main focus (like the triangle between katniss, peta and gale).
Wicked is good. All in all, really existed to see what they come up with next!!
the book was really great but the movie was way better!
I attended an advance screening of this movie, and I thought it was great. It did the book justice; it was well cast, the acting was sublime and the directing was fantastic. One of the better film adaptions!
My friends told me toch watch it. Story not that exciting and ending pretty poop. But i'll watch the other anyway
In the 2010s, there were quite a few adaptations of young-adult novels, and "The Maze Runner" is certainly one of the better ones. In essence, the film is not very different from its genre colleagues. Thus, once again, there is a post-apocalyptic setting as well as young characters who take on the role of "chosen ones"; adults are almost nowhere to be found. On the positive side, the likeable cast, the overall acceptable effects, and the solid pacing of the narrative should be pointed out. There aren't many real highlights, but the movie is at least quite entertaining for just under two hours.
Chuck deserved so much better:sob: He was such a precious cutiepie and his “big brother / little brother” relationship with Thomas was absolutely adorable:heart: I wanted him to make it until the end so bad!!
Thomas, babe, I love you, but you are suffering from some heavy :sparkles:main character syndrome:sparkles:
It starts off on a slow sort of pace but gets more quicker as the storyline goes on. The ending is very surprising and has you on the edge of your seat. The plot twist makes you want to watch the 2nd one. I never read the books so I don't know what a difference the movie is. But I think the girl was sort of useless in this movie and they didn't do too much on her character. She was kind of just there. Anyway, solid movie. Excited to follow up with watching the 2nd.
I liked the story and had a good time watching it a second time.
Fuck the script, Dylan is in the movie
The trilogy is so bad, and stupid, and cringe, that I didn't even watch. Also, how stupid you have to be to create a virus without a vaccine?:DDD
The movie is fine and enjoyable in itself. But the logic takes a hit as the movie progressis.
Like, how did Gally exit the maze at the end. He never entered it in the first place. He didn't have the unlocking device and also not the capability of fighting all those greivers on his own.
When they were flying off in the Helicopter, they could see the entire Maze. Did no one think why those guys could not just fly on top of center part and extract all the kids?
The more I think of it, the more it looks stupid. But it was enjoyable none the less so I'm not so disappointed.
Nobody have GPS with them?
A good action movie, but after reading the book I realized just how bad of an adaptation it is. Too rushed, should have been a tv show IMO
A little too drawn out to keep my attention. Plenty of substance too little action. Not a bad movie tho.
Great action film, unexpected ending, nice
Amazing and thrilling movie! I haven‘t read the book and therefore the story was completely unknown to me. It really kept me interested with the mystery of the maze and the grievers. Can‘t wait to watch The Scorch Trials.
Action packed movie. First time I watched it, I didn't expect where they would end up. Still haven't read the books, but I sure want to.
This movie is amazing, the final with the maze fight was amazing, its very short for a so so good movie.
To paraphrase others, "Run, Thomas, run...". Keeps you in suspense until the very end.
Based on the popular book series, The Maze Runner is an intense and suspenseful thriller. The story follows a group of young boys that find themselves wiped of their memories and sent into the center of a giant maze that's constantly changing. What the maze is and why the boys have been placed there is an enticing mystery, and the writing does an impressive job at setting up this world and creating intrigue. Additionally, the performances are fairly good, and the costumes and set designs have an interesting look and feel. However, there are some problems with the storytelling, as it seems a bit rushed at times with some random elements thrown in to add ambiguity. Though it's a little weak on story, The Maze Runner is an entertaining and exciting adventure.
"Bad guys" were designed alright. Pity there's not much besides that.
Compared to the book, this movie is so bad. Which is usually the case when a movie is an adaption of a book, it seems. There are some major details left out from the book which makes this movie go through the story way too fast. Where the book is filled with tension, this movie isn't, at all. The story is great though, but do yourself a favour: read the book and forget about this movie. It's a waste of your time.
A tense, entertaining film with enough thrills and drama to cover up its narrative inadequacies.
i expected it to be better
Buy it: you will watch it again when the sequels come out
It's a good movie, but the end is so disappointing...
Better than expected. Fun, and entertaining. Simple story, agile movie.
I personally think that this plot is getting tired and they should give it a break, it has been overly abused recently through "The Hunger Games" and similar movies that have been hitting the big screen..
The movie in itself was nothing new and the plot did not offer any sort of impressive findings. One of the things that ticked me off was the ending that the whole purpose of was setting the expectations for the sequel.
However not to only focus on the negatives and to justify the semi-passable part instead of the deserved Fail for being a cliché are two things that I liked in the movie..
1- First of all is the location that was used in the movie which was indeed quiet impressive and deserves an award for creepiness.. That location was Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
2- Second of all, A young fresh face that really left an impression on me and I liked his performance far better than that of Dylan O'Brien who is playing Thomas the main character, that face was Ki Hong Lee the 28 year old Korean-American actor portraying Minho, the Keeper of the Runners. IMHO, this guy is going places.
What I find pretty funny is that I found the book insanely slow, and the movie insanely fast…like you don't even get a chance to think about anything that has happened until its done. As well, and I preach about this in so many action flicks, while action may be taking place, I'm still bored out of my mind because I was not prior made to feel like I should care about the characters or what's going on. No one really had a personality, (which is how I felt in the book) but this was even more extreme, where I felt we never got to really know anyone. On the plus side, the graphics were great!
I really hate open-sequel movies.
Surprisingly good! A great opening, a thrilling plot, and a cliffhanger ending! Looking forward to the sequel!
Overall I thought it was a really good movie, I enjoyed very much
Entertaining, I'll give it that. The way that start it's good, and all the mystery behind the maze and all it's interesting but I think that at the end something was missed, I don't know. Still pretty good, and I'm hoping there will be a sequel.
I can't take "Cube" of my mind, all the way until 15 minutes before end. Ending is good, now we have to wait for a year.
And how come that no character in three years thought of... building a ladder?
Very good start, the ending could have been better.
Much more predictable than Hunger Games. You can see something going to happen from far away.
@securepelican: A combination of The Hunger Games and Cube, I loved this dystopia, can't wait for Scorch Trials. 7/10 #TheMazeRunner
A lot better than I expected but still not amazing. I felt it was predictable and almost boring, especially in the middle. The sequel has better potential in my opinion; what was revealed at the end was probably more interesting than the rest of the film.
Incredibly the film showed a better ending than the book. The response to each action scene is according the end of each chapter, point for that. It doesn't miss anything of the book that was important.
I didn't expect much tbh but I was positively surprised! I didn't see that ending coming and now I feel like I have to know more about EVERYTHING! Looking forward to the sequel!
Surprisingly good. I was at the edge of my seat. Not your typical young adult movie. Great suspense.
I loved it! The action and all the feels really moved me and my friends. Love the cast, great actors only.
Not many people in the cinema. It has been entertaining and well run and I hope make a Part 2. It was strange to me hear Dylan O'Brien speak in Castilian and not to appear others from Teen wolf;-)
Review by LainfanBlockedParentSpoilers2015-03-07T21:40:43Z
Pretty disappointing and crappy movie.
I suspected a casual and fun movie with this one, maybe with some puzzles and an interesting premise. However the movie disappointed from the start.
For a adaptation from a book I sure hope this was a bad one. You get thrown into the middle of a stoy where suddenly all kinds of stuff happens. I hope this wasn't the case in the original work, because it is one of the major flaws of this movie, and could be explained as the cause of many of its other faults.
The acting was luckily pretty ok, but many of the characters don't add to the story at all and are just filling up empty screen. The sound was to cry off as well. Soundtrack was ok, but many scenes had no music and felt like a soap because of it.
I am all for being creative with sound, but this was just done badly.
Since I won't bore you with pages of irrelevant texts, like the movie does, i will just make a list of the cons and pros.
Cons:
- Paced way too fast
- No build up for a climax (the film was more of a constant climax actually)
- Not getting time to get acquainted with the characters, therefore not caring about there faith.
- Very little character development, except maybe for Gally (Will Poulter)
- Stating many things as impossible without many explanation
- Revealing the endgame in the first act of the movie with a flashback/memory which makes the whole movie unnecessary,
- Also making the whole story as predictable as a Japanese train schedule.
- Inappropriate absent of sound
- Too much unimportant characters
- Did we really need another Hunger Games movie?
- etc.
Pros:
- Nice environment
- Funny but cool looking cyborg creatures
- Doesn't need many attention to follow, so you can check your twitter or facebook feed in the meantime.