MAZERUNNER MOVIE REVIEW

I watched the Maze Runner movie and loved it. What a great adaptation of the exciting book by James Dashner. It totally captured the feeling of the novel and follows the main events of the plot. The director and screenwriters streamlined the complicated events in the book that would not translate to the screen, and the plot was so exciting to watch unfold onscreen, even more than in the book.

The movie was a thrill ride from beginning to end, and I’m super impressed, though some of the shaky cam during the actions scenes bugged my eyes. Regardless, the talented young actors nailed their performances and were just incredible to watch. They are the real deal and I’m so happy they found such perfect actors for the roles. The maze was stunning and the visual effects were top notch, which is hard to fathom considering the total budget was only $34 million.

I watched the movie with three friends (Stephenie McKinnon, Patrick Tracy, and Jake Balamis), none of whom had read the book. They all enjoyed the film. Jake was thoroughly entertained, and he loved that he didn’t know how it was going to end. The ending was almost exactly the same as the book, (except the movie seemed a little stronger to me—the way it all played out in a blow by blow sense--a gun instead of a knife worked well for me). I think enough information was given out to provide the viewer with closure, but we were shown that there is a lot more to come. This is far from over.

As we were leaving the IMAX theater at Jordan Commons we ran into James Dashner and his family. He was at another showing that just got out, (his seventh viewing of the film!). I’d spoken with James about the film in the past a couple of times, once when we watched a different movie together, and I’m so happy for him. He’s a big movie lover and goes to the cinema a lot. He loves The Maze Runner movie and said he “agreed 100% with all the changes made” when comparing the book to the movie. I do as well.

The director and writers did a wonderful job. The pacing of books is different than movies, and the book had to be changed to make it work. Overall, the Maze Runner movie was excellent and I was thoroughly entertained.

Go and check this movie out in the theater, as the big screen adds a lot to the experience, especially IMAX, which also provided a BOOMING score. I will soon own the soundtrack.

I’m excited to see Maze Runner again.