(Source IMPawards.com for the poster, altered)

INTRO:

Last night, I watched the next book-to-movie franchise to be: The Maze Runner. And I want to start of saying this movie was not a bad movie, but it on purpose provided more questions than answers which is exactly why I think The Maze Runner franchise should end right now. 

Obviously, there’ll be spoilers below, so go, watch the movie and come back later.
Ok you prepared?

Alright, so The Maze Runner peaked my interest with it’s mysterious trailer (a couple months back), and then I actually decided to go see it because I saw it’s great posters, but I was seriously disappointed when I left the theatre last night.

Not that the movie was bad, in fact I was entertained by it, it had fantastic special effects (not only the walls of the maze, but the Grievers as well) and the pace of the film kept me interested.
The reason I don’t want to see a sequel of The Maze Runner is because this one wasn’t doesn’t deserve a sequel. This movie was presumptuous. It right away assumed and decided it deserved another. The sequel, The Maze Runner: Scorch Trials has a Sept. 18th, 2015 release.

(Source ScreenCrush.com)

And author James Dashner has penned another sequel The Death Cure for a cinematic feature to come out after that. The thing is, it wasn’t one movie that started and ended with one clear message or story. In fact the last act of The Maze Runner didn’t end, it just set up the next film.

These are the first three books and is the planned Maze Runner movie trilogy:

(Source EntertainmentFuse.com)

The thing is, I don’t want this franchise to continue, the first movie ended just to flow into the next one.

QUICK REVIEW:

The Maze Runner is a visually appeasing, well-acted, YA (Young Adult book) movie, but it’s not necessarily a good movie. It relied too much on a double cliffhanger. I’m not saying it’s a bad movie, it’s just not complete – The Maze Runner on it’s own, is nothing – just confusing.
It relies on having a follow-up to explain itself.

TheSecondTake’s rating

6/10

LONG REVIEW:

I don’t want to insult anyone that liked the movie, and I sure don’t want to say the wrong thing because I haven’t read the books yet, but I’m tired of these movies that adapted from a book just to make a franchise.

These movies are no longer about a story. There about a story that leads into a 4 movie franchise. They should stop making these.

The reason sequels should made should be that the first movie is so good that the audience wants more. The first adventure must be so gripping and entertaining that, in this different world, a second adventure is wanted. BUT The Maze Runner and the other Young-Adult books that are being “translated” into movies aren’t getting sequels because they‘re good and deserve it, the first one is being made so a franchise is necessary.

(Source JustJared.com)

The whole time I was watching The Maze Runner, I kept asking these questions:

– Why were these boys in the Glade, who put them here?
– Newt says Alby was the first one, and he was the first to make a democratic society, so who was George & why did he have a throne with bones around it?
– What are Grievers, really?
– Obviously WCKD is making the Grievers (they appear to be half beast and half mechanical and had the WCKD logo on them) but is WCKD controlling them?
– Was there only one Griever per section of the Maze?

But then after the movie ended I was left with even more questions:

– How come Teresa and Thomas are part of WCKD if they’re teenagers?
– Are Thomas and Teresa superiorly intelligent?
– Did they do something WCKD didn’t like and get sent to the Glade?
– Why was it all guys? Why was Teresa the first girl?
– Was Gally actually part of WCKD? – He tried to convince everyone to stay in the Glade, but ended up in the lab with the others too quickly, he would have had to leave the Glade minutes after Thomas’ group.
– Did Gally come alone at the end or did everyone (who didn’t go with Thomas to escape & stayed with Gally in the Glade) die trying to make it to the exit?
– Or did they try to leave and Gally killed them?
– Why would he want to kill his friends (Thomas’ group) in order to keep them in the Glade, when he could escape and be free? Especially since there was no food/supplies coming anymore.
– Why didn’t he ever want to leave the Glade (take in, he missed the explanation of “why they were there” – which ended up being another stage in some twisted trial)
– So was Gally part of the trial, was he a double-agent?
– Is the entire Earth now a testing-trial/game planet for WCKD?
– Did the sun actually blow up?
– Was anything WCKD said true?
– Were Thomas and Teresa given fake memories of them being in WCKD so that the others would try to kill them?
– WHO was (king) George?
– Is WCKD good…?

(Source JustJared.com)

This movie doesn’t even tell one story. It tells half of one… to be continued next September.

MY REASONING:

The last act of The Maze Runner should have explained why these teenagers were in the Glade (the centre of the maze), who put them there and what was going on behind the walls of the maze, but instead it multiplied the confusion by using another cover up to cover up a double-layered-giant trail.

(Source JoBlo.com)

I left the theatre thinking these teenage boys live in a messed up trial-world that is literally set up to kill off the weak characters and didn’t like that I have to wait another year to actually understand what I watched last weekend.

What did you think of the Maze Runner? Any thoughts on the casting (if you’ve read the books)? How do you feel about the ending of the movie?

Let us know below!

9/25/2014 – 3:24 pm

by James