The Maze Runner
Starring Dylan O'Brien, Will Poulter
Directed by Wes Ball
It doesn’t quite have the thematic punch of The Hunger Games but is more effective than anything offered in the cinematic Twilight universe; Wes Ball’s adaptation of James Dasher’s bestselling dystopian novel works best in its quiet moments of human interplay.
Although this is Ball’s feature film directorial debut he demonstrates a keen grasp of fluid storytelling, wasting no time on a wordy prologue, opting instead to throw the audience right into the terror and disorientation the main character endures in the movie’s opening scene.
Sixteen-year old Thomas (Dylan O'Brien) wakes up inside a grated, industrial elevator that is quickly going up with no idea how he got there or who put him there. Once topside, he emerges into a lush, forested glade surrounded by a giant stone maze and a group of adolescent boys.
It’s all very Lost meets Lord of the Flies but some swift storytelling ensures the derivative boredom never sets in. Thomas isn’t content to sit idly and soon teams up with the ‘Runners’, who spend each night mapping out the labyrinthine corridors, to find a way out and unlock the mystery of why they were all sent there in the first place.
The film, though full of breathless chase sequences, falters during the action where many scenes are too frantic to follow as the boys are stalked by mechanized spider-scorpion hybrids known as ‘Grievers’. Thankfully, The Maze Runner’s strong performances ground the plot and offer an intriguing new young adult franchise in a soon-to-be trilogy.
