Real good! Real amusing! Well done!

Rating: 10/10 (22 September 2014)

I must admit I really missed the kind of movie where a bunch of kids go for an adventure and here it is, The Maze Runner. Well not really that the kids want to be there, they are put there. However still the movie satisfies me.
To be precise, this is an adventure post-apocalyptic dystopian thriller (at least I would define it as such). And unlike Hunger Games, this one lacks all the political stuff (at least in this episode!) and instead focuses on the action and character development.
The movie clearly points out in the end that there would be a sequel, but that's all. Everything the end teases with is that the next episode will focus on putting the kids into another big trouble and that's it. So no spoilers really.
I will try to keep this out of any spoilers too, so will instead focus on only what the trailer suggests. And as the trailer shows, this movie is about a group of kids put into the centre of a maze which they have to explore and survive and meanwhile have to solve their own conflicts. None of the kids remembers anything, except in few days after they are put into the maze they remember just their name. From this point on starts the adventure. This is everything you will see in the trailer.
Based on this alone, the movie flashed three things inside me immediately - "Labyrinth" (1986, David Bowie) - The Maze Runner is written in 2007, but who does not remembers "The Labyrinth"? That was such a huge movie from my childhood. I still own it on blu-ray and the soundtrack on original CD and listen to it often. And I am not the only one, I am sure. And I am sure James Dashner, the author of the Maze Runner books was heavily been inspired by this movie, just he decided to make it darker. Nothing wrong really.
Yes, the movie is based on books, but I never read them. If you just watch the movie you will experience one well narrated story, enough dose of unknown to make you puzzled and wait for the answers to appear, nice effects and not bad music.
The most disappointing for me was the absence of a teaser after the credits. But I can live with it. After all I really enjoyed the movie.
Now as I said, the movie flashed three things inside me and "Labyrinth" (1986) was the first one. Okay, the difference was that in "Labyrinth" they put Jennifer Connelly in the outskirts of the maze, while here they put the kids in the centre. The other two things however were the kids themselves.
The main actor, Dylan O'Brien looks exactly like a very young version of Jean-Claude Van Damme. I am sure he can't do the Van Damme split, but he really does look like him. Maybe a version of Van Damme before "Breakin" (Yes, Van Damme does appear in "Breakin" too).
The other thing is, this movie really flashes back a resemblance to "The Goonies" (1985) to me, because of Blake Cooper. This kid really resembles Chunk from the Goonies (Jeff Cohen). I don't know why, but he is one of the most memorable characters to be from The Maze Runner. Maybe because he is so different from the others.
As I said, I really enjoyed the movie. What I miss is just a little more character development, which I hope to see in the next episode. And I really want somehow Blake Cooper back in the team!!
My final verdict - a very enjoyable teen movie!