He's a capable athlete and loyal friend, portrayed as a kind of brave hunk, not a stereotype. Minho is one of the best Asian-American characters I've ever seen in an action movie. It's implied that he was the one who brought order to the village, and he keeps it capably. Alby, a young black man, is a strong and likable leader. This is worth exploring further because it seems like The Maze Runner has progressive things to say about race in other, even subtler ways. Change is afoot, it seems to say, though, predictably, our protagonist is a stereotypical Hollywood-approved white male. One shot, of Gally and his all-white cronies, standing opposed to the protagonist and his multiracial band of youngsters intent on finding an escape, feels positively subversive for such a big-budget Hollywood product. Gally (Will Poulter), looking for the world like a playground bully, despises change and all that it means for his home. When order is disrupted and the time for certain rules to change comes about, some resist, even violently so. The Maze Runner also contains a dab of Star Trek style philosophy and commentary, and a very subtle nod at racial politics, which worked surprisingly well for a teen action flick. For the majority of its running time, The Maze Runner is thrilling, and I cared about most of its characters, as archetypal as they are. There's very little downtime between tense action setpieces and character-building moments, and what little humor there is in the film comes largely from Chuck's antics. There were moments of genuine surprise in the movie, even when the logic behind those reveals seemed a bit dubious. From its first moments, there's a sense that something isn't right in this fantastical world, and the film constantly drip-feeds information and clues, until it becomes a deluge. The mystery of the boys' whereabouts and the nature of their imprisonment is potent, and it unravels in a largely satisfying way. The mystery of the boys' whereabouts and the nature of their imprisonment is potent And the labyrinth rearranges itself every night, making the business of mapping it a tall order. Naturally, there are horrors in the maze that appear when the sun goes down. The runner group is led by Minho (Ki Hong Lee), a buff kid who knows much more than he lets on.

There are builders, healers and runners - young men who run through the maze by day, trying to find a way out. The kids have a nicely ordered society set up, and a sort of makeshift village in the center of the clearing. Alby (Aml Ameen), the tiny society's charismatic leader, Chuck (Blake Cooper), a younger, smaller boy with a can-do attitude and Newt (Thomas Brodie-Sangster, also known as Jojen Reed from Game of Thrones), provide some exposition.Įvery month, one boy is sent up to live in the verdant field, surrounded on all sides by a colossal maze. He doesn't know who he is, how he got here, or what the hell is happening, and freaks out through the first moments of the movie. From the first frames, our protagonist - a nameless, amnesiac young man played by Dylan O'Brien - wakes up in a box and is transported, panicking, to a field filled with rugged young men. The film takes little time to get started. It's a well-paced adventure-thriller with an intoxicating sense of mystery and the chutzpah to take huge leaps with its fictional world. The lead can't hold a candle to Hunger Games protagonist Katniss Everdeenĭespite some missteps and plot holes, and the fact that the lead can't hold a candle to Hunger Games protagonist Katniss Everdeen, The Maze Runner is better and more tightly constructed than a simple cash-in. It has a cast of young dudes, a premise and structure that are so video gamey it almost hurts and the general teen-dystopian feel that's all the rage in Young Adult literature (like Hunger Games, it's also adapted from a YA series) these days. The Maze Runner could've very easily ended up a cynical, boy-centric response to The Hunger Games franchise.

The maze runner