The Maze Runner – Tripping Through Gateways

In an attempt to save Minho from WCKD, the film opens with a train heist. We discover that WCKD has been searching for a Cure for the Flare, and this was the purpose of the Maze. In the minds of Ava Paige and her scientists, they are doing noble work, and if they must sacrifice some kids to save more people, it is worth that cost. The heist saves several kids, but not Minho.

When Thomas, Jorge, Brenda, Newt and Frypan decide to go on a secret mission to break Minho out of WCKD headquarters, they find that WCKD is actually at the center of a massive walled city. With help from an old ally they make their way into the city and WCKD headquarters.

The Death Cure got delayed due to a pretty bad accident involving star Dylan O’Brien during filming. But the end result is a pretty exciting film. It is practically one long prison break type of film, with the heroes trying to save their friend and end WCKD.

Game of Throne’s Aidan Gillen (introduced in the Scorch Trials) makes a good heavy whose motives are not at all altruistic. Walton Goggins has brief but memorable role as a rebel leader dreaming of taking down the city. A couple characters get nice redemptive arcs and a few meet tragic ends.

The action is pretty non-stop and makes for an exciting close to the story (thanks to the producers for not splitting the last book into a two parter).

I enjoyed this series quite a bit, and I think it was well served by having the same director and screenwriters for all three films. Considering that other than the Maze Runner films, Director Wes Ball has only directed a few short films. He shows himself pretty prepared for big action.

Welcome to a dystopian future where Katniss is chosen to be part of a competition to the…oh wait…sorry, welcome to a Dystopian future where society has been restructured into five groups based on certain ski-wait, wait…that was something else…

So, in a dystopian future, ravaged by disease and a scorched earth, a young man awakens to find himself in an elevator with no idea how he got there. He soon finds himself in a Lord of the Flies type of situation. A culture built by young teens. At the top of the hierarchy are the Runners.

Runners enter the maze each day in an attempt to map it out to find a way to freedom. The young man, Thomas, risks his life one day to help two runners and gets stuck in the maze overnight. They manage to be the first to ever survive a night in the maze.

Once made a Runner, Thomas pushes for the group to try and find the way out more aggressively. This results in divisions among the group.

Part of the slew of films that adapted young adult novels to have the next Hunger Games, the Maze Runner exploits the ever popular “Teens in a Terrible Future” plot that fuels an entire subset of young adult books. But while it has strong similarities, it also sets itself apart a bit. Built in with a larger mystery (why are the kids in the maze? What is WCKD?) the film smartly keeps the viewer in Thomas’ shoes. He has no memory of why he is there or what he did before and we learn everything as he does.

The effects are pretty good, with an interesting monster design for the Grievers (creatures that hunt in the maze). The Maze design is intriguing and the action sequences are exciting.

The performances are quite good (Will Poulter, who played Eustace in the Voyage of the Dawn Treader, continues to impress me).

Is the Maze Runner awesome? No. But it makes for a fairly entertaining sci-fi actioner.

Tag: The Maze Runner

On the Run Pt 3 (The Death Cure, 2018)

On the Run Pt 1 (The Maze Runner, 2014)