By Alex Nicoll
editor-in-chief
@NicollMac
“Welcome to the Glade, greenie”
From one of the very first lines of the movie, the audience knows it has entered the world of the Maze, and with it all the perils and tribulations associated with it.
Based on the popular book by James Dashner, The Maze Runner, is the first movie in the three book series.
The movie opens with the protagonist, Thomas (Dylan O’Brien), waking up in a dimly-lit elevator in a cold sweat. The audience is thrust immediately into the fast-paced action that permeates throughout the film.
Thomas discovers he has been placed in the Glade, a giant compound enclosed by a massive and ever-changing maze. Here he meets the rest of the “Gladers”, boys who were deposited there one-by-one each month, like clockwork, from the mysterious organization W.C.K.D.
He then is told everybody arrived the same way he did, with no memory of life before arriving in the Glade, except his name. He also is instructed by the Glade leader, Alby (Aml Ameen), to never venture into the maze at night or he might suffer the wrath of “grievers”, which are half-living half-mechanical monsters that roam the maze at night.
A sting by a Griever causes someone to go into a hysteria and then ultimately death, but it also causes a person to remember life before the Glade and the true reason they were put there.
The only people allowed in the maze are a special group, called Runners, who are supposed to map the maze and find a way out.
Curious, Thomas attempts to go in but is stopped by Gally (Will Poulter), the enforcer and skeptic of the group.
Everything changes when a girl arrives in the lift. Being the first girl ever in the Glade, the boys investigate the unmoving body when she abruptly wakes up, gasping, and says one word: Thomas.
After she wakes up, Teresa (Kaya Scoderlario) and Thomas work to find a way out of the Glade and Maze and discover who they all are.
O’Brien, popular from his roles in the MTV show “Teen Wolf” and the movie, The Internship, delivers a riveting role and helps the audience to connect with the emotions running through the teenage Gladers.
Poulter pulls off a convincing performance as the brooding, tough guy, which differs dramatically from his role in the 2013 comedy We’re the Millers.
The movie does not deviate from the book significantly but for die-hard fans of the series, there are enough changes to details that may cause it to just be another book-to-movie letdown.
For a person not familiar with the series, this movie offers an edge-of-your-seat thriller that has you rooting for Thomas, Teresa and the rest of the Gladers to escape. It is a must-see because of the entertainment value.
The Maze Runner runs 113 minutes and is rated PG-13 for thematic elements and intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action, including some disturbing images.
