(Movie ) Gotta go fast! A look at Maze Runner

Having read the book before watching the movie made me realise two things:

1. Some books that weren't all that great end up translating poorly into movies, making them worse.

2. When a poor movie portrays things better than a poor book, you know you messed up.

Thomas is a young man who ends up in the centre of a maze with a group who have already established a community there. In three days he makes friends, enemies and becomes a Runner. Runners are highly respected as they go into the moving maze to work out how to escape.

With this in mind, let's assess the key points of this film.

Note: This review will not be based on comparisons to the book, but rather how well the film works. 

Story/Dialogue: This film stands on its own as well as a puppet without a hand. On its own, it creates a world where we do not really develop attachments to Thomas or his friends, nor fear for their lives when they try to face off against the threat that they face. Without the attachment, it's difficult to invest emotionally in characters who often come off as one dimensional (Though this isn't necessarily the fault of the actors, but rather the writing,) Also, deliberately leaving out exposition so that you can possibly cash in on a sequel makes for terrible endings. As a result, the audience doesn't really care who they are or where they go or why they're special. 

Cinematography: Visually, it's all post-apocalyptic, so it looks as though they asked a monkey to throw condiments (Mainly consisting of BBQ sauce and that weird green tomato sauce from Heinz) at a wall to see what would happen. It did not so much create the illusion of 3D but rather that, 'bolted to a wall,' kind of feeling. The one that makes you realise that beneath all the attempt at flashy looking structures, lies a lot of lime green walls. The creators would have had more luck using the game engine that was used to create the Halo games. Also, the light wrapping was shoddy. Light wrapping (for those who don't know the industry,) is a digital simulation of light to show how the light interacts with an object. It also shows how shadows would be positioned when the light hits the object. The moment where Thomas and Minho were walking down the bridge near the exit to the maze was an example of poor light wrapping.

Audio: The lack of music didn't so much as create a sense of vastness within the maze as it did create a sense of nothing going on. With that said, I enjoyed the drums as they were running through the maze, which not only attempted to create a tense atmosphere, but also simulated a driving heartbeat. 

Overall: In an industry where a lot of half baked ideas are getting thrown at a wall to see what sticks, this is up there. It comes off less like a post apocalyptic story and more like an event (an event is the style of movie created by Michael Bay, in which things happen, yet there's no really story,), yet there were fewer explosions. It was like a lighthearted version of Lord of the Flies. Actually, if you want to watch something great, watch Lord of the Flies. Brilliant, intense and a much better alternative to a post apocalyptic version of Big Brother.

2 stars.

Author's note: Feel free to share your thoughts on the film with me. I'm more than happy to discuss with you. Same goes for my other reviews.