I was a bit harsh on The Maze Runner.
In my The Scorch Trials review, I called The Maze Runner tepid, generic, and unnecessarily bleak. Upon revisiting the film, such words now seem unreasonably cruel. Back when it released, The Maze Runner faced stiff competition in the Young Adult film department from the reigning Hunger Games series. The same year The Maze Runner released was when Mockingjay—Part 1 came out—a film I ecstatically praise as the finest, subversive Young Adult film made (even labeling it “Young Adult” feels demeaning for such a finely crafted film). When compared to such high-quality filmmaking, The Maze Runner certainly comes across as very tepid and generic (this most likely being the reasoning for my overly harsh criticism)—yet when compared to the vast library of subpar to garbage Young Adult features, the film is decently made. Placement wise, it’s slightly inferior to Divergent, yet better than Divergent’s sequels, all the Twilight films, The Mortal Instruments, Beautiful Creatures, and (most certainly) Vampire Academy. There’s still some truth in calling The Maze Runner generic, and I stand by that it’s a bleak film, yet it’s ultimately inoffensive entertainment with enough positive and mildly engaging features to make it a rainy-day watch—if not to, at least, see its far superior sequel.
The Maze Runner immediately throws its audience into the fray, opening with a nameless teenage male trapped in an ascending elevator. The elevator brings the boy to a large grassy area surrounded by towering walls. There lives a group of all male teenagers, some having been there for several years. All of them, including the protagonist, have no memories before the walls save for their names (which returns to them after a couple days). The teens have long since established order—after an assumed Lord of the Flies period—living in relative harmony among themselves. Only one entrance exists between the walls, leading to a giant maze filled with booby traps and monsters. Only teens designated as “runners” are allowed to enter the maze in search of a way to escape.
It’s a simple enough setup. Boy with amnesia trapped in a possible dystopian setting. Clear-cut goals to escape and figure out what’s happening. Throw in new elements—such as a zombie-like infection—every 20 minutes to shake things up, expand the universe and both answer questions while adding new ones, and The Maze Runner has the makings of an enticing action-mystery. Unfortunately, the element of mystery is most of what the story has going for it. The action sequences are entertaining, albeit limited by the same type of monster attacking over and over. The finale, however, is quite lackluster—missing that climactic spark to leave a lasting impression. The film lacks almost completely in charm and comedy, save for a few brief scenes I can count on one hand. Now the absence of charm and comedy doesn’t always equal a negative in film, but it does become an awfully desired aspect when a good chunk of the story involves downtime and character bonding. Here, the bonding scenes come across as somewhat flat and artificial, which is a shame since most of the teenagers are genuinely likable characters.
MAJOR SPOILERS BEGIN: The Maze Runner’s protagonist, who we learn is named Thomas (Dylan O’Brien), teeters between generic and distinct. Thomas’ design is very run-of-the-mill: white male pretty boy, black hair, brown eyes, no distinct features such as scars or glasses, etc.. The group’s leader calls Thomas “Not like the others” because he’s “curious”—yet I find it hard to believe none of the other boys were ever curious about…literally anything going on in their situation. The leader’s statement—which he tells Thomas no more than a day after Thomas arrives—feels like a contrived way to give Thomas the “special” status without having him do or say anything unique. The statement’s placement is additionally bizarre seeing as Thomas does later showcase noteworthy characteristics. For one, the boy is quite clever (well, either that or the other kids are dumb), utilizing the maze’s traps to kill the monsters and devising plans to stay two steps ahead of his naysayers. Such resourcefulness, in addition to his bravery, quickly gains support from the other teenagers—with Thomas growing in power before becoming the group’s leader…in about three days!
Looking at the film’s secondary cast, Gally (Will Poulter) is an interesting character. At first glance, he looks like the typical bullying rival, yet he's surprisingly given unusual depth and complexity as a devil’s advocate to Thomas’ brash ideas. That is until the finale, where his character derails into a deranged cult leader and is killed. Alby (Aml Ameen) is a cool, levelheaded leader—as well as having the unique distinction of being the first teen put in the maze—until he gets killed by the monsters. Then there’s Chuck (Blake Cooper), the youngest, most innocent of the boys who, you guessed it, is murdered (notice a pattern here). Chuck’s death is the film’s most contrived aspect—serving nothing more than to add fuel to Thomas’ determination and end the film on a cheap manipulative note.
As for the characters that don’t die (at least in this film), there’s second-in-command Newt (Thomas Brodie-Sangster) and lead runner Minho (Ki Hong Lee)—both friendly, well-written characters who get the closest to feeling like they have a genuine bond with Thomas. There’s also Teresa (Kaya Scodelario), the token female character who has a mysterious connection to Thomas’ past, and is really boring. There’s hardly anything interesting about her character other than being the group’s only female and her connection to Thomas’ past—which Thomas completely throws her under the bus by telling the group, without hesitation, that they both previously worked for WCKD. Also, just going to point out the elephant in the room, how is it that not one, hormonal teenage boy—stuck inside a walled area without any female contact for possibly years—tries anything here on Teresa? Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the film not putting gratuitous sexual assault/rape in the film, but it does seem a tad unusual that all of them—especially the more brutish ones—are regular gentlemen around her. MAJOR SPOILERS END
There’s nothing rotten about The Maze Runner, yet nothing noteworthy as well. On the plus side, it has likable characters, a straightforward yet enticing premise, and a (albeit generic-looking) protagonist with some wits about him. On the other end, it lacks in charm and comedy, has lackluster bonding scenes, and is held together by a mystery with an unoriginal payoff. Overall, The Maze Runner is a decent yet unremarkable experience, which is never good for a series starter. Fortunately, The Maze Runner’s sequel more than makes up for its predecessor’s mediocrity.