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The inaugural installment in a brand new young-adult film series, this picture was released stateside
on September 19, 2014 - where it earned $340 million, ten times its modest budget. Based
on James Dashner's novel of the same name, this science fiction dystopian action thriller
was directed by Wes Ball. It's the same old song-and-dance we've seen a half dozen times
before: blending elements of "The Cube" with "Divergent" and/or "The Hunger Games" into
a lesser, and more familiar effort. In an unspecified time - I'm guessing the distant
future - a group of teenage boys struggle to survive inside a small forest community,
that's completely surrounded by a gigantic "maze". Each member of the 'Lord Of The Flies'-esque
group is given a responsibility, with the strongest and fastest of the lot assigned
to run the maze itself; mapping it for clues, information, or a possible exit. This concept
is intriguing enough, but it's handled with such mediocrity and lack of sincerity, it's
hard to take seriously, let alone fear. The cast of hunky adolescents are led by Dylan
O'Brien, who besides looking ten years old than his 16-year-old character, does a generally
poor job of convincing anyone he's leading-man material. His co-stars are nothing but a bunch
of overly macho, Henley-wearing idiots trying to figure out why they don't remember life
before they became the proverbial rat chasing the cheese. As the resident bully, Will Poulter
is particularly irritating: constantly obfuscating progress with his boneheaded stubbornness
and weird looking eyebrows. I just wanted to reach into the screen and punch him in
his stupid pug-nose. Introduced halfway through, Kaya Scodelario - a poor man's Kirsten Stewart
- offers nothing to the story, not even a trite romance plot. Annoyingly, everything
in the young-adult novel adaptation has to have some dumb proper-noun name... the "Grievers",
the "Changing", the "Box", the "Creators", the... how about "Just Stop Already"? Despite
its exposition-heavy first act, and attractive meatbags who can barely act... this PG-13
rated picture does deliver some unique thrills and serious action towards the end. A sequence
where O'Brien and his requisite minority friend are quickly navigate a series of closing gates
is quite exciting, and shot particularly well. But it's frustrating that despite the size
and scope of this gigantic arena: no one ever actually gets lost in it... in fact, they
seem to know their way around in the dark rather effortlessly. Moreover: it never poses
a threat to any of the characters... it's just a bunch of cold-looking concrete, covered
in moss, with the occasional obstacle course. It feels less like a "Maze" and more like
one of Double Dare's "physical challenges". Too bad Marc Summer wasn't around to narrate
for us. Indeed, one individual warns our hero that "No one survives a night in the maze."...
but guess what happens the next time someone gets trapped in there? And
while it sets up a pointless sequel (ugh...) the picture does at least provide a solid
resolution to the bizarre questions you find yourself asking during its 113 minute run
time. The somewhat believable narrative chugs along with some forgettable music and ideas:
but redeems itself with a sharp and distinctive visual style. Fans of dime-a-dozen dystopian
dramas will feel right at home with "The Maze Runner", which is an entertaining waste of
a compelling concept with annoying characters. I thought it was just ALRIGHT.