The Maze Runner
The labyrinth
After the Harry Potter phenomenon, the world of entertainment realized the existence of a special audience, that of teenagers, much more profitable than children or adults, both in literature and in cinema. Thus, many series of books and films focused on this audience and were very successful, as was the case of the saga “Twilight”. But in addition to the fantasy universe, there were also very interesting science fiction series such as “The Hunger Games” (USA, 2012), “Divergent” (USA, 2014) and my favorite, “The Maze Runner” (USA, 2014).
These films have in common the theme of young people in danger in a post-apocalyptic world, facing monstrous threats. What changes in relation to any other predecessor is the originality of how the theme is developed.
In fact, for those who have a more extensive movie memory, like me, I could cite numerous examples of films that follow a similar formula. All are based on books, and they have achieved relative success in film adaptations. “The Maze Runner” is based on the first book in the trilogy written by James Dashner.
At the beginning of the film, a young man (Dylan O’Brien) wakes up inside a dark moving elevator. His memory was completely erased, and he can remember his name, Thomas.
When the metal box reaches its destination and the doors open, he finds himself surrounded by boys who welcome him and present him to the Glade, an open space surrounded by gigantic walls. Like the newcomer, none of them know how they got there, or why. They only know that every morning the huge gates of the Labyrinth that surrounds them open, and at night they close. And that every thirty days a new boy is delivered by the elevator.
The gang is commanded by Alby (Aml Ameen) and Newt (Thomas Brodie-Sangster), who seek to help him join the group, although he is met with suspicion by Ben (Chris Sheffield) and Gally (Will Poulter). Who helps him in every way is Chuck (Blake Cooper), the previous rookie.
The Glade is surrounded by a gigantic maze, with movable walls, and at night is infested with dangerous biomechanical monsters called Verdugos. Until that moment, nobody had managed to spend a night out of the Glade, but Thomas risks his life helping Alby and Minho (Ki Hong Lee), and not only survives but also manages to kill a Verdugo.
However, a fact radically alters the routine of the place – a girl arrives, Teresa (Kaya Scodelario), the first girl sent to the Clearing. And even more surprising is the message she brings with her, stating that she will be the last, and that everything will change from now on.
The situation becomes increasingly dangerous as the gates no longer close, allowing the monsters to enter the Glade and attack the boys. To save themselves, it will be necessary to face not only the Verdugos, but also who created all that. So maybe they’ll be able to find out not only who they are, but also what the reason for all that mystery is.
The film is directed to the teenage audience, with a script well tied, obviously with some differences in relation to the book, but that did not interfere in the smooth running of the story. In the book, two characters were telepaths, which was eliminated in the movie, without any loss.
The youth cast is very good, and there is a perfect chemistry, much more than in the similar films mentioned earlier. Although there are no stars in the cast, everyone already had experience, especially on television.
The special effects are interesting, and correctly used, being an accessory to the story, not a protagonist. The locations were in Louisiana, and show that when you use imagination, it gets much better than millions wasted on computer graphics.
As other movie series, the Maze Runner trilogy had two more films, following the order of the books: “Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials” (USA, 2015) and “Maze Runner: The Death Cure” (USA, 2018).
The three movies can be watched on the Star Plus streaming service.