“The Maze Runner” is the first of three movies directed by Wes Ball. It is based on “The Maze Runner” trilogy by James Dashner. I have just finished reading the series and I wanted to see how similar the first movie was to the first book, or if it was any better.
It all starts with a boy panicking as he is being lifted up in an elevator for what seems like forever. All of a sudden it stops and a bright light shines through the top as a door is opened. He sees dozens of boys around his age as he is pulled up towards them. He tries to escape only to fall on his face. As he gets up he can see walls as high as a skyscraper surrounding him. The boys catch up to him and throw him in a crude jail cell. A little while later he is let out by the leader and is asked his name. He once again began to panic as he could remember nothing about himself, not even what he looked like. He is introduced to the rest of the people and what they call the Glade, which is where they live. It was only a few hours when he noticed the door through the walls. He was told it was a huge maze and that no one should go in it as there are things in there that would mean instant death if he got stuck there in the night.
The movie goes on with the boy, who soon remembers his name, Thomas. He tries to figure out how he got in the maze and who put him there, while trying to dodge his new enemies. As more things start to unravel, Thomas begins to believe that he is not like the others and he was put into the maze for a bigger reason than to just survive the maze.
Usually when a movie is made because of a book, there are many differences between the two. If you, like me, read the book first, the movie may become distasteful as it was not the same as the author wrote it. However, this movie is so close to being the same as the book. The only difference is that some parts that were not that important were cut out to make it fit the allotted time better. Dylan O’Brien did a fantastic job portraying Thomas as he really got into character. The CGI in this movie was not even bad either. The creatures in the maze that come out at night were very realistic and almost even disgusting to look at.
The only complaints that I have is that they took down the pace just a little and there were some more details that I wished they included. The movie is already about two hours long, so I understand that the directors wanted to make it go faster. But with the book being packed full of clues and information, I just wish there was a little more to it. A few of the important details were out of order, but not too much that it made a difference. This movie and the book are filled with so many heart-wrenching moments that they were hard to stop watching and reading.
I recommend reading the book first, as I would with any books with movies. I easily rate “The Maze Runner” a 4.5/5.
