Thomas, a boy with amnesia, is brought to the surface via a mysterious elevator to become part of a small community of teenage boys, living in a glade, surrounded my an unsolvable, ever changing maze that’s full of monsters.
When a girl arrives in the elevator with a note saying, “There will be no more,” Thomas decides to risk the maze in an attempt to escape, but to what?
We say, “If you’re looking for answers, you’ve come to the wrong film.”
TAYLOR: I was not looking forward to reviewing yet another post-apocalyptic teenage contest. I’ve had my fill, thanks.
The Maze Runner is a technically fine film, has moments that are interesting and exciting, particularly when the boys (and girl) are running around trying to survive the crazy creatures that live and apparently work in the maze. Yet, this film consistently and systematically made me angry.
HOWE: I was looking forward to The Maze Runner. I am probably one of only a few who enjoyed The Village, so this being along the same lines should have scored high on overall points, yet it didn’t.
I liked the concept of the movie: of a group of kids being trapped somewhere, keeping them enclosed, yet not knowing what is surrounding them.
To me there isn’t enough tension and at about the half way mark, I just wanted Thomas to go into the maze to either escape or get eaten just so it would end.
TAYLOR: I was angry at the film because of its lack of information. I understand that the film is full of characters with amnesia, but even they seemed coy about what they didn’t know.
Thomas asks questions, trying to understand what is happening, questions the audience asks too, only to be met with cryptic or absent answers. Then, later in the film, when we and the characters are given a glimpse into the reality of the situation, we don’t have to wait long before we learn that the reality is also false. So in the end, we know nothing, I repeat, absolutely nothing about what is happening in this film. (We can speculate, but I could do that at home, without having to attend the cinema.)
This film is like watching half an episode of The Outer Limits, only dragged out over two hours.
HOWE: There are answers coming. By that I mean it is a trilogy of books and yes, they have just started filming part two. I’m a little miffed because I thought it was going to be just a one-off movie and I now know that I have to sit through at least four hours of sequels that will make no sense and conclude with a real crappy, waste-of-time ending.
Why does every movie like this have to be all doom and gloom? Whatever happened to “and they all lived happily ever after?”
– Taylor gives The Maze Runner 2 copies of The Lord of the Flies out of 5.
– Howe gives it 3 spear holders out of 5.
The film is currently playing at the Galaxy Cinemas in Vernon.
– Brian Taylor and Peter Howe are film reviewers based in Vernon, B.C. Their column runs in The Morning Star every Friday and Sunday.
