Surprisingly Fun and Provocative Teen SciFi

Rating: 7/10 (27 September 2014)

We are inundated with scifi young adult films based on books. Rarely do the terms "provocative" and "teen entertainment" fit in the same sentence with these movies. Maze Runner, however, with its Lord of the Flies inspired world and its "Lost" like mystery, overcomes its own muted tone and tired genre to be a surprisingly engaging outing. Would it be better if it had a more experienced and assured auteur behind the wheel? Absolutely, but the unique premise and twisting plot make for highly enjoyable fall movie-going. The film opens in fantastically bleak fashion, with our hero unknowingly stuck in a mysterious elevator which takes him to a land of other abandoned teenage boys, all enclosed by a giant dangerous maze. As he begins to learn what kind of world he is in, so do we, with the mystery and plot endlessly twisting and turning. Through some overly melodramatic but otherwise good performances, the movie takes us and our hero on a journey through scifi genres: the chosen one, zombie lore, Indiana Jones like action. It all culminates in some intense set-pieces and surprising story choices, which is more than we often get in this type of adolescent adventure. My affection for this film could be from my soft-spot for any scifi film that, at the very least, tries to be unique and surprising. The world is complete and well-realized, there is a believable premise, some cool insect-robot monsters, and even cool questions about the essence of identity. So even though much of the actual filmmaking is a bit by-the-numbers, the unraveling plot is a bunch of fun.