THE MAZE RUNNER (M)
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Stars: Dylan O’Brien, Aml Ameen, Will Poulter
Director: Wes Ball
Screening: general release
Rating: ★★★
AT first glance, this looks like another of those juvenile-gladiator SF movies adapted from young adult fiction that are being pumped out by Hollywood in the wake of The Hunger Games.
The Maze Runner, taken from a novel of the same name by James Dashner, fits the bill. It's set in a dystopian future, it's about a small group of young people placed under pressure by unknown forces. We first meet the central character, Thomas (Dylan O'Brien), in a darkened lift, as he is being delivered to his new home.
He's lost his memory and he's being dumped in an unfamiliar place. He finds himself part of a youthful community, teenage boys who have been delivered in the same way to this location. They are forced to live in a large glade enclosed by walls. These walls are part of a huge shifting maze, and within the maze are creatures that provide an additional disincentive to escape.
Under the tutelage of the first inhabitant, Alby (Aml Ameen), a series of rules and rituals has been developed. Gally (Will Poulter) is the most aggressive of the group, the most committed to the rules, and he is affronted by Thomas's approach. More than any of the other boys, Thomas is focused on escape.
The Maze Runner might seem at first to have echoes of Lord Of The Flies, with its community of boys forced to survive in the wild. But it has ingredients of a World War II POW movie, of The Great Escape or Stalag 13.
The insularity and confined space of The Maze Runner can be a strength and a weakness. There's a simplicity to the trajectory of the film - the urge to break out - with a background mystery about the reasons for the creation of this environment. But the characterisation is a little light, the Boys Town ambience a little wearing.
There is no scope for cool futuristic art direction in the simple set-up of the glade. But the maze is pretty dramatic and intense.
The director, Wes Ball, has a background in visual effects and he handles his first feature capably. There's a slightly scrambled conclusion, hinting at a sequel.