The Maze Runner

            The Maze Runner is a post-apocalyptic story about a group of boys chosen to survive in a dangerous maze in order to create a new breed of surviving humans. James Dashner’s novel is gripping and a nice contrast to the many young adult novels out there that revolve around a teenage girl that starts a rebellion. Instead, this story follows Thomas, a boy immune to the virus causing zombie-like symptoms in the rest of the world. Hope seems lost for a cure, which is why WCKD starts a program to study those who are immune, and record what makes them different. They gather a large group of young boys who are immune and put them through harsh conditions to see how they would react. It’s brutal, but real, and follows their struggles similarly. The movie does an adequate job of keeping the integrity of the book, while adding that visual element that gets your heart racing and makes you sit on the edge of your seat until the suspense has momentarily passed.

            The best part of the movie, however, isn’t the plot; at times I found myself waiting for more action to build up, and then the crescendo of the moment would fall utterly short. There were points in the movie that I wasn’t necessarily bored, but I was waiting for more to happen. I suppose I felt this during the book as well, but the book follows the characters’ emotions so closely that it’s difficult to get bored. The movie isn’t that way as you can’t hear their inner monologues throughout the film.

            Dylan O’brien performed brilliantly as Thomas. The initial scene shows Thomas rising into the Glade in a crate-like elevator, and you can plainly see the panic and raw emotion in O’brien’s portrayal of the moment. There’s nothing better than an actor really capturing and understanding the character in a certain moment, and O’brien did that part perfectly. I was riveted by his acting abilities throughout the story, and a lot of the time he was the person carrying the entire movie, and not just because he was the main character.

Due to the anticlimactic sequences the movie sometimes took, the viewer turned to the actors for entertainment, which they delivered. Besides O’brien, Thomas Brodie-Sangster played the role of Newt well, and as a favorite character of mine. Ki Hong Lee, who acted as Minho also performed spectacularly. But the most impressive performance for me was by Blake Cooper, who played little Chuck in the film. Chuck is the little brother of the group; sometimes annoying and ignorant, but everyone can’t help but care for him. He just tugs at my heartstrings. And he’s the one that makes you feel the most strongly throughout the movie, and the book. Cooper’s delivered that perfectly, adding just the right amount of innocence and cuteness to force the viewer to love Chuck. The big part that Chuck plays at the end of the plot really emphasized Cooper’s ability to capture the scene. As Cooper’s first big-time performance, this will lead to other roles that will define his career.

In other words, I would consider this book-to-movie adaption a success.