THE MAZE RUNNER
RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
RATED: PG-13
RUNNING TIME: 113 MINUTES
CHRIS'S RATING: *****/*****
PREMISE: (VIA IMDB) Thomas wakes up in an elevator, remembering nothing but his own name. He emerges into a world of about 60 teen boys who have learned to survive in a completely enclosed environment, subsisting on their own agriculture and supplies. A new boy arrives every 30 days. The original group has been in "The Glade" for two years, trying to find a way to escape through the Maze that surrounds their living space. They have begun to give up hope. Then a comatose girl arrives with a strange note, and their world begins to change. There are some great, fast-paced action scenes, particularly those involving the nightmarish Grievers who plague the boys.
THE PROS: Excellent story, fantastic acting, nice , brisk pacing. Follows the book nicely with changes working well to not ruin any of the future movies. If you're a fan of the book, you're sure to love it.
THE CONS: Only a few minor ones of note here, mostly nitpicks as a fan. Downplaying of Glader lingo made me a little sad. Somewhat weaker-acting from Teresa's actress. Lack of telepathy.
THE REVIEW:
Let me first start out my review by saying that I am a huge fan of James Dashner's Maze Runner series, which I only discovered a month ago. The books rank very high up for me in the "Dystopian" series, ranking high above Divergent, and even The Hunger Games, but just bellow the truly mesmerizing "Legend" trilogy by Marie Liu. So going into this movie, I was very excited, but admittedly had very high expectations for this adaptation.
I can honestly say, that much like other fans, my expectations were blown away.
First of all, I think the biggest, and hardest thing to nail about this movie was the acting. Especially because I was going into this knowing the emotional centerpieces that drives the sequels. And I was VERY impressed to find that nearly the entire cast absolutely killed it. Dylan O'Brien, who, as our lead, Thomas, has to drive the film gives an excellent performance and so beautifully interprets the character I grew to love over the book trilogy. Other big stand-outs here to me were Thomas Brodie-Sangster, who turns out an excellent performance as "Newt", which makes me happy, given later on, he is a big emotional pull of the series.
But by far, I was most impressed with the actor they chose for my personal favorite character in the books, "Minho". Ki Hong Lee, being an actor that I had never heard of, had huge shoes to fill in my mind because of this. But boy, did he deliver! If he wasn't a name already and I just hadn't heard of him, I definitely can imagine that this could be the series that gives him his start. And if this was just his acting in the first movie, given Minho's somewhat-smaller role in the first one, I can only imagine how he'll do as he's thrust into main character status in The Scorch Trials.
This being said, despite all the good actors/players in this movie, there was a weak link. And unfortunately, its one of the most key players in the series. Kaya Scodelario, who plays Teresa, while not a bad actress by any means, seemed a little out of place as Teresa. For a girl who is supposed to be tough, and a bit of a badass, she didn't play up these elements, and instead gave us a more stoic Teresa. And while it was not a big problem, I think that I would really like to see her try to step up her game for the already confirmed sequel, "The Scorch Trials".
On this note, I will voice one of my minor problems with this film. And that's probably the biggest one, which is: the lack of telepathy between Thomas and Teresa. While I understand why it would be "silly" to the director, it took away some of the character development from Teresa, and definitely needs to be re-implemented in the sequel. It's a very necessary element, so I trust they will find SOME way to get in there. But it was a somewhat-missed element in the film.
That being said, the rest of the changes here were handled exceptionally well. There are quite a few changes to how things go down, but I am impressed by the fact that everything played out the same regardless. The changes are noticeable, but don't detract from the overall story arc of the novel, and thankfully, every element that needs to be there for the sequels IS there. So bravo for that. I think that it may have even helped clean the pacing up a bit, just a tiny bit, which impressed me. Though, and I will say this, I wish they had used the Glader lingo a little more. Yes, they do use "Shank", "Shuck Face", etc, etc. But it's not nearly as much as in the novel and kinda made me a little sad. At the very least, Greenie is very prominent.
Last, but most certainly not least, I will say that this was a fantastic adaptation. As a fan, it was amazing seeing the world come to life before me with all the story so well in-tact (changes and all). It's a very enriching, sad, dark, and intense story. I wouldn't say it's the feel-good film of the year, but I definitely think it's a very big stand-out in the "Dystopian" genre where we see a new franchise every day. I definitely think that whether you're into the genre, or not, it's one of those franchises that is worth giving a chance and I am at least certain will not disappoint.
IN CONCLUSION:
The Maze Runner is a fantastic adaptation of the young adult Dystopian series I have come to know and love. It's a great, intriguing, well-acted, and well-paced movie that should capture the imaginations of both fans, and newcomers alike. I cannot recommend this movie more, I am so glad that this was worth the wait, and definitely will be looking forward to "The Scorch Trials", "The Death Cure", and "The Kill Order" with great enthusiasm. This is one fan that has been impressed beyond measure.
THE CONS: Only a few minor ones of note here, mostly nitpicks as a fan. Downplaying of Glader lingo made me a little sad. Somewhat weaker-acting from Teresa's actress. Lack of telepathy.
THE REVIEW:
Let me first start out my review by saying that I am a huge fan of James Dashner's Maze Runner series, which I only discovered a month ago. The books rank very high up for me in the "Dystopian" series, ranking high above Divergent, and even The Hunger Games, but just bellow the truly mesmerizing "Legend" trilogy by Marie Liu. So going into this movie, I was very excited, but admittedly had very high expectations for this adaptation.
I can honestly say, that much like other fans, my expectations were blown away.
First of all, I think the biggest, and hardest thing to nail about this movie was the acting. Especially because I was going into this knowing the emotional centerpieces that drives the sequels. And I was VERY impressed to find that nearly the entire cast absolutely killed it. Dylan O'Brien, who, as our lead, Thomas, has to drive the film gives an excellent performance and so beautifully interprets the character I grew to love over the book trilogy. Other big stand-outs here to me were Thomas Brodie-Sangster, who turns out an excellent performance as "Newt", which makes me happy, given later on, he is a big emotional pull of the series.
But by far, I was most impressed with the actor they chose for my personal favorite character in the books, "Minho". Ki Hong Lee, being an actor that I had never heard of, had huge shoes to fill in my mind because of this. But boy, did he deliver! If he wasn't a name already and I just hadn't heard of him, I definitely can imagine that this could be the series that gives him his start. And if this was just his acting in the first movie, given Minho's somewhat-smaller role in the first one, I can only imagine how he'll do as he's thrust into main character status in The Scorch Trials.
This being said, despite all the good actors/players in this movie, there was a weak link. And unfortunately, its one of the most key players in the series. Kaya Scodelario, who plays Teresa, while not a bad actress by any means, seemed a little out of place as Teresa. For a girl who is supposed to be tough, and a bit of a badass, she didn't play up these elements, and instead gave us a more stoic Teresa. And while it was not a big problem, I think that I would really like to see her try to step up her game for the already confirmed sequel, "The Scorch Trials".
On this note, I will voice one of my minor problems with this film. And that's probably the biggest one, which is: the lack of telepathy between Thomas and Teresa. While I understand why it would be "silly" to the director, it took away some of the character development from Teresa, and definitely needs to be re-implemented in the sequel. It's a very necessary element, so I trust they will find SOME way to get in there. But it was a somewhat-missed element in the film.
That being said, the rest of the changes here were handled exceptionally well. There are quite a few changes to how things go down, but I am impressed by the fact that everything played out the same regardless. The changes are noticeable, but don't detract from the overall story arc of the novel, and thankfully, every element that needs to be there for the sequels IS there. So bravo for that. I think that it may have even helped clean the pacing up a bit, just a tiny bit, which impressed me. Though, and I will say this, I wish they had used the Glader lingo a little more. Yes, they do use "Shank", "Shuck Face", etc, etc. But it's not nearly as much as in the novel and kinda made me a little sad. At the very least, Greenie is very prominent.
Last, but most certainly not least, I will say that this was a fantastic adaptation. As a fan, it was amazing seeing the world come to life before me with all the story so well in-tact (changes and all). It's a very enriching, sad, dark, and intense story. I wouldn't say it's the feel-good film of the year, but I definitely think it's a very big stand-out in the "Dystopian" genre where we see a new franchise every day. I definitely think that whether you're into the genre, or not, it's one of those franchises that is worth giving a chance and I am at least certain will not disappoint.
IN CONCLUSION:
The Maze Runner is a fantastic adaptation of the young adult Dystopian series I have come to know and love. It's a great, intriguing, well-acted, and well-paced movie that should capture the imaginations of both fans, and newcomers alike. I cannot recommend this movie more, I am so glad that this was worth the wait, and definitely will be looking forward to "The Scorch Trials", "The Death Cure", and "The Kill Order" with great enthusiasm. This is one fan that has been impressed beyond measure.
5/5 STARS
HIGHLY RECCOMENDED
No comments:
Post a Comment