#69 MAZE RUNNER

#69 MAZE RUNNER

Starring Dylan O'Brien, Will Poulter, Thomas Sangster, Ke Hong Lee, Aml Ameen, Blake Cooper, Kaya Scodelario and Patricia Clarkson. Written by Noah Oppenheim, Grant Pierce Myers and T.S. Nowlin. Directed by Wes Ball, 113 minutes.

Adapted from the four Maze Runner books, the film set in a post apocalyptic world sees a group of boys living, or is that surviving in the centre of a huge maze within a walled wilderness. Every day the maze opens up and the boys send out runners to explore the labyrinth beyond to try and find a route out, before the maze door slams shut when the sun sets. That's when the Grievers (mysterious bio-mechanical spiders) are unleashed to roam the maze in search of anyone trapped in the maze after dark. Once every month an elevator from deep below rises up with supplies and a new boy, with a wiped mind. This time, a young man called Thomas arrives and over the next three days he will bring about a total collapse of the boys' precarious world order, well him and the first girl - eevver to arrive in the glade.

Yet another month and yet another YA movie adaptation, this time more geared towards boys rather than girls and once again offering another post apocalyptic, despotic world filled with children dying horrible and painful deaths. Hollywood seems to love watching these young people dying. Last month it was The Giver before that, Divergence and then there was Ender's Game, which at least wasn't set in a post apocalyptic world but this time it's boys and one girl living and trying to survive in a world filled with giant metal spiders and a humungous constantly changing maze, will Thomas find a route out or will everyone die horrible deaths before the end thus making any sequel impossible? Well, I doubt it'll surprise anyone to hear a sequel is coming out next year, so chances are some of the kids, those not killed horribly by giant metal spiders, will make it through the maze, rather easily in the end, and live to fight another day in some sort of Hunger Games sort of way, especially since there are four books, which means there'll be at least five fucking films, Jesus H. Pigging Christ on a stick.

This is the sort of film where if only the characters would just stop, listen carefully to each other then answer the questions fully they'd avoid so much heart ache and grief. Seriously, at one point Thomas is marched out into the forrest and when he asks, naturally enough, 'where are you taking me?' is told, 'You'll see.' Why, not just bastard well tell the sorry little shit where the fuck you're taking him! Also why must you constantly push him over and shout in his face, seriously how is that going to engender you to him? Or why not actually tell him why you cry when you see him and tell him he's to blame but not the whole story. So, annoying. I seriously think that Hollywood must have used up its budget of ellipsis in the script.  

Anyway, this is quite entertaining and intriguing, even if ultimately the maze seems to be defeated rather easily in the end. Nice effects good acting particularly from Thomas Sangster and just enough to make me come back for more.

7/10