Unlike many of the other science fiction films we've been getting in recent year featuring younger people as central characters, THE MAZE RUNNER (based on the successful novel series by James Dashner) isn't about an established future that everyone accepts, and often into which a "chosen one" is introduced to set the world right. THE HUNGER GAMES, THE GIVER, DIVERGENT, ENDER’S GAME.. Christ, it seems like there's a new one every two or three months. But THE MAZE RUNNER dares to drop its characters into a place they know nothing about, with every memory of where they came from erased. That place is The Glade, and surrounding them is a giant, ever-changing maze whose door opens up for a few hours every day, and if you are unlucky enough to get caught inside when they close, well, that's the end of you, thanks to some unpleasant creatures call Grievers.
The Glade is occupied by only boys and young men. Some have been there for years and some are new arrivals, each assigned a job when they arrive, and this makeshift society seems to function, until the arrival of Thomas ("Teen Wolf" star Dylan O'Brien), who seems just a little more curious and ambitious than the rest, and finds it difficult to accept things just because he's told he has to. His primary rival (and chief rule keeper) is Gally (Will Poulter from WE’RE THE MILLERS), whose motivations are solid but his methods are dictatorial. The group is loosely ruled by its most senior member, Alby (Aml Ameen), who seems to have a level head about most things that stray from the norm, but when he gets ill, the group falls into chaos.
And while Thomas isn't especially gifted in any way, he is special in that he has flashes of memory (usually while sleeping) in which he sees fragments of his previous life that are rather disturbing and seem to involve an organization called W.C.K.D., whose logo just happens to be on some of the walls and other machinations in the maze. And although he has not been formally designated as a "runner" (more athletic boys who venture into the maze when the doors are open to explore and map it), he decides to jump in and try his luck and do a little exploring.
It's no secret that author Dasher borrowed a great deal from the atmosphere of “Lord of the Flies,” with boys who want to adhere to rules, weak and strong members of this micro-society, and leaders driven slightly mad with power. And while that's an intriguing backdrop for this story, that's really all it is. THE MAZE RUNNER is an adventure story about breaking free from the role society gives you at birth, rising above and proving to the world that you are more than a job title or socioeconomic strata.
Things shift slightly with the arrival of The Glade's first girl, Teresa (Kaya Scodelario), who seems to know Thomas, although she does not know how. Blessedly, no attempt is made by the writers or first-time feature director Wes Ball to push Teresa and Thomas together in a romantic way; that would have absolutely destroyed this film's sense of keeping things grounded and sensible (to a degree). Not surprisingly, Thomas' journeys into the maze triggers whoever is controlling it to set loose the nasty forces inside against the kids, and forcing many of them to enter the maze in an attempt to find an exit. And at that point, THE MAZE RUNNER has earned the right to transition from a more thoughtful contemplation on societal roles into a full-out action adventure, and it does so quite enthusiastically.
THE MAZE RUNNER is certainly far above average as a youth-centric science-fiction tale, but it succeeds as much for what it doesn't do as for what it does. Nixing a romance, not having the fat kid be some idiotic comic-relief character, not having some god-awful choosing ceremony, and not having Thomas be something super human or the fulfillment of some dopey prophecy are all good things that define this film. Instead, the movie wants to be about unlocking a mystery—several mysteries actually—and as we get closer to the answers, the film does a solid job building a level of fear that makes us realize the truth may be far worse than anything roaming The Glade or the maze.
The film actually bothers to let us into the heads of its characters (since it can't let us into their pasts), and all things benefit from that. The friendships and rivalries makes sense in this context, and don't feel like simply plot devices to push the story forward. It's incredible, actually, how much THE MAZE RUNNER gets right by simply not allowing itself to be pieced together from cookie-cutter elements from other young adult sci-fi stories and films. With its relatively unknown cast and its rough-around-the-edges effects, it almost feels like a thoughtful indie version of the films I mentioned at the top of this review, some of which I actually enjoyed. THE MAZE RUNNER just does a lot it better—not overwhelmingly better, but the improvement is noticeable and appreciated.
