film review: maze runner

Film Review: Maze Runner

Thomas (Dylan O’Brian) arrives in a glade at the centre of a giant labyrinth. Like the others there he has no memories of his past life. Thomas quickly earns himself the job of runner, those who patrol the always changing maze in hopes of finding an escape route. Along with Teresa (Kaya Scodelario) Thomas tries to convince the others he knows the way out.

The film opens in complete darkness and the sounds of a lift moving. The darkness is soon replaced by low lighting allowing us limited vision. This puts the audience in the same situation as the character they are watching, allowing us to feel the same confusion. The use of this technique draws in the viewers. The light changes again, this time a siren is flashing. A siren usually warns of danger, this is used to create anticipation for what will happen next.  Lighting is used continually to show changes in atmosphere, at the beginning there is only just enough light to see by but when the scene opens up to show the Glade, the light is bright enough to cause the faces of characters to be out of focus. This shows the change from the possibility of danger to opening out to somewhere that is safe.

The camera is used to create a feeling of claustrophobia, close ups are used to make it appear there is no space to move into. The first time we see the glade, it is from a low angle, as well as showing us it from Thomas’s point of view, looking up at the others present. This makes the audience feel involved and creates a connection with the main character, creating connections to characters is something this film is able to quite well.

The performances given in the film are strong; however some characters seem to have been moved into the background. An example of this would be Teresa, who seemed to have less of an impact than intended. This could also apply to characters such as Minho (Ki Hong Lee) whose role seems cut down not for lack of a good performance on both actor/actress’ parts.

Overall I found this film to be a good watch, the plot is interesting and is carried well by the actors involved and the tone is put across well by the use of different techniques, such as lighting and camera work.