The YA adaptation trend is still going strong, and THE MAZE RUNNER looks like it fits nicely in the mold of both HUNGER GAMES and DIVERGENT with its plot of a bunch of future youngsters surviving a template of their society, in this case a big-ass maze.
There are no big-name co-stars to speak of (no Kate Winslet or Philip Seymour Hoffman to lend some pedigree to the proceedings), the action seems mostly shadowed and implied, the group mentality seems more POWER RANGERS in terms of solidarity than LORD OF THE FLIES, and the inclusion of a female is just…forced. Like there's any other reason for that girl to be there except that the target demo tends to veer away from sausage fests.
I was never all that big on these sort of BATTLE ROYALE-lite YA adaptations to begin with, and now I'm just fatigued and cynical towards them. This is ostensibly not meant for me, so it's hard to judge it objectively, but nothing about this makes me feel anything other than indifference.
What do fans of the series think? Does this look like it has potential?
THE MAZE RUNNER dodges grievers on September 19th.
-Vincent Kim-Zahedi
”Papa Vinyard”
vincentzahedi@gmail.com
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