The Maze Runner is an older film. Well, I say older, but it’s just one year ago. Still, the sequel, The Scorch Trials, is coming out soon. The Maze Runner takes place in a mysterious and gigantic maze. Kids are placed in the center and there are runners that go through the maze, hence, The Maze Runner. The kids try to survive and figure out what is the maze and why they are in it.
First off, I have not read the books. I feel that is an important point to make because I find my enjoyment of adaptations depends on if I read the original work or not. I find I enjoy movies more if I don’t read the book they are based on. That is not always the case, but it seems to be moreoften than not.
As for The Maze Runner, I liked it. The maze felt relly grand and imposing. The creatures running in the maze were nasty. And all of the main kids had pretty good reactions to everything that was going on around them. The movie has a more gritty and dark feel. There’s no joking around or anything. Everyone is serious at the situation they are in.
The slow buildup of what the maze is is done pretty well. It’s a slower movie with fewer scenes of actions going on. Each action scene, however, feels tense with the fear of the character’s dying off.
The atmosphere, I feel, is the most well done part of the movie. There is not a lot of answers during the movie with most of why things are happening being put into the last few minutes. Still, the plight of the kids to survive and escape the maze takes priority, and what few answers they find out in the maze serve to heighten the mystery well.
Overall, the tone is a bit too serious for me, but for what the movie puts out, it works well. The mystery wasn’t so overplayed that I stopped caring about it at all. It was a good mixture of doing things and figuring things out. Though honestly, I probably still won’t see The Scorch Trials in theaters. Maybe.