An Impressive Adaption

Rating: 7/10 (26 September 2014)

To start, I am a member of the target audience (although I hope an objective one). I read The Maze Runner a few years before the movie came out, and then re-read it in January when I heard about the big-screen adaption. This formula has gotten pretty standard to me, having gone through the same ordeal with The Golden Compass, Eragon, Percy Jackson, and The Hunger Games. As a book-reader, I have learned to be disappointed with movies (as only those who had to sit through the horrors of Eragon would know).
Frankly, The Maze Runner is probably my least favorite book of the lot. Not that I dislike it; I'm just well aware of its faults - mostly lying within an illogical narrative. So, needless to say, after I entered the movie theater, I was prepared for a flop.
I did not get one.
I knew the movie did not have a very large budget, and since the young director, Wes Ball, came from a CGI background, I was worried that all of the money would be spent on such things, leaving little for the acting. It turns out they didn't need to spend anything on actors, as the cast did an exceptional job. Brodie-Sangster as 'Newt' did exceptional work, and I look forward to seeing him play a role in future sequels. Maybe Ball's young age helped him connect with young actors.
What Ball really managed to do well was eliminate most of the unnecessary aspects of the book, only keeping those plot points that are relevant to the upcoming sequels. Obviously, the core premise of the book stayed, but many minor details were changed in a good way. Almost every change he made makes sense to me, and the movie had a much better flow than the book did.
If I had to complain about Ball's directing decisions, a few points come to mind. The first is that the movie suffered from the same issue as the book, that is, a poor conclusion. It comes abruptly and bluntly, and is almost entirely exposition for the next film. I can think of many ways Ball could have changed the book ending and still kept the series alive, but I think he didn't want to stray too far from the book when it comes to setting up sequels. It's a safe play, but not the right one.
The other issue is the downgraded roll of Teresa (the girl that is sent to the maze). I understand why certain details of her character were removed for the movie adaption, but what was left over is essentially a token girl character. And for a movie that seems so worried about setting up its sequel, not developing this specific character could be troublesome.
Speaking of sequels, I personally didn't find them as enthralling as the original in the series, i.e. The Maze Runner; so I hope going forward that Ball isn't afraid to deviate from the novels and flesh out some of the narrative a bit better than James Dashner (original author) did.
I would argue that this is a better movie than The Hunger Games - which suffered more from the original director, and it does more than enough to satisfy readers of the book. Hopefully its sequel does as much for the series as Catching Fire did for its.
When the movie is over, you're left with an impressive show of acting, strong action scenes, and hopes for a titillating sequel. Hopefully those sequels are worth the poor ending in this movie.