Darker Better Version of Lord of the Flies

Rating: 6/10 (20 November 2014)

The Maze Runner- Young-adult films in today's day and age have been pegged with the tagline of "Silly teen romance with silly life threatening situations on the side." The Maze Runner, as most can tell, is nothing like that. This movie has sort of a Lord of the Flies and Lost combo to it, making it a real breath of fresh air to the YA genre. The thing that made Lost so interesting was the questions the show posed. This film gives the same feeling to the audience members. Despite a bit of a lackluster ending and somewhat predictable plot, The Maze Runner combines strong acting, breathtaking CGI effects, and a refreshingly darker approach to the YA genre, to give the audience an wildly entertaining thrill ride for the whole film.
I know a lot of people are huge fans of the book, but I have not read the book and therefore will not judge the movie with any comparisons relating to the original source material. From what I heard though, the film cuts out some scenes from the book, but still stays along the same line. All of the people that read the book that I have talked to, say they very much enjoyed the movie and cannot wait for the sequel.
What I am mean by predictable plot is the common features that The Maze Runner's storyline shares with other films. The constant adversity he must overcome to be accepted as part of the group is the main one, but that is probably how it would happen so it is hard to judge that factor. The main problem that most people had with the film was the rushed ending where everything seemed to be happening too fast. The movie is obviously just setting up for a sequel. Still, it should not have to cram in so much information in the last eight minutes to do so. The film still keeps the Lost sort of feeling and leaves us still thinking towards the end which I tend to like, but others may not.
When I was watching some of the action sequences in the film, I said to myself "Thank God they didn't make the action so lame so that it would be suitable for six year old to watch." I really stress when I say young-adult because the action was actually a lot darker and more gruesome than I thought it would be so I would advise you not to take your little kids to the movie. The action was actually something I appreciated because it was not afraid to hold back on the fighting. The action sequences were simply awesome. The CGI was also very well done. The amount of imagination that must have been put forth to achieve the look of the "never- ending" maze was astounding. They really had you going. It seemed like everything that was happening in the film was really taking place and that is the goal for all CGI. Another thing I was impressed with was the great acting across the board in the movie. Dylan O'Brien, who plays the curious and courageous Thomas, delivers a strong lead performance and easily the best performance of his career. Will Poulter, who plays the tough and kind of mean guy Gally, really showed that he is not a one-sided kind of character and possesses a lot of acting ability. I was skeptical of Will Poulter being the right man for The Maze Runner after seeing him play the goofy kid in We're the Millers. To my surprise, he managed to show he can play more than just one type of character. The rest of the cast were all well-casted in their roles and all did a fantastic job.
As I said before, this is not the type of movie for little kids to watch. If you are age appropriate though, I recommend you see The Maze Runner while it is still in theaters.
For more of my reviews, go to my website at reviewsbywest.com