½
USA 2014
Starts October 16, 2014
Directed by: Wes Ball
Writing credits: Noah Oppenheim , James Dashner novel
Cast: Dylan O'Brien, Kaya Scodelario, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Will Poulter
Length: 113 minutes
“Do your part; never harm another inhabitant of the Glade, never go beyond the walls” are the rules that Thomas (O’Brien) is bound to break. He is the latest arrival to the Glade, a green patch of land surrounded by a gigantic maze where people arrive through an elevator on a monthly basis. No one remembers more than his name. So far, the community has tried to establish order, survive hardship and the dangers of the Maze. Thomas’s curiosity about the Maze brings hope of escaping it to some and insecurity to others. But when Teresa (Scodelario), the only girl ever, arrives, events force the group to choose sides, either with conservative Gally (Poulter) or daring Thomas.
The Maze Runner stands in a long series of young-adult dystopian novels turned into a movie. As such, it picks up typical themes like individuality versus the greater good, social experiments gone wrong and also the idea of “a chosen one”. Apart from that, it offers fresh actors, loads of action and a convincing set. Since I have not read the book, the movie kept me guessing about what was in the Maze, which is all I ask from a few hours of entertainment. ()