With the exception of the Hunger Games franchise, the recent wave of dystopian young adult fiction hasn’t made the transition to the screen all that successfully. (Sure, Divergent made some bank and there’s a sequel in the works...but is anyone really psyched for that?) The Maze Runner, however, is an engaging piece of future-shock action-adventure, with first-time feature director Wes Ball bringing James Dashner’s novel to the screen with impressive, muscular energy and intelligence.
Teenager Thomas (Dylan O’Brien) awakens in the Glade, a wooded marsh smack in the middle of a massive, impenetrable maze, with no memory of how he got there. The rest of the Glade’s resident young dudes are similarly amnesiac, although they know enough to steer clear of the maze, which is teeming with Predator-esque monsters called Grievers. Only the quick, badass Runners are bold enough to map the maze, and when Thomas joins the ranks he eventually finds a possible escape route. But what’s beyond the maze? And who put the kids – including lone girl Teresa (Kaya Scodelario, valiantly trying to give depth and grit to an underdeveloped role) – in there in the first place?
What sets The Maze Runner apart from its contemporaries is its willingness to be a thrill ride rather than a metaphor festival. It’s action-driven, and Ball and his fine cast (O’Brien is a capable lead; Game Of Thrones’ Thomas Brodie-Sangster, We’re The Millers’ Will Poulter and strong newcomer Aml Ameen do well in supporting roles) handle the requirements of the story with tremendous vigour.
In cinemas now
