Monday Movie Madness: The Maze Runner

So I've decided to try out a new feature on my blog, and as you've probably already guessed from the title, it's going to be about movies ;). Since the A to Z Challenge ended I've been trying to think up ways of keeping my blogging schedule going, so this weekend I sat down and had a brainstorm for blogging ideas, other than just writing about my, well, writing. I managed to come up with a couple of ideas I hope you'll like :).

The first of these ideas is Movie Madness - a post that will hopefully (if all goes to plan and I don't lose interest like I did with my book reviews feature...) take place every Monday. The idea behind it to have a chat about any movies I've watched over the past week - because believe me, I watch A LOT. While I'll endeavour to keep this as a weekly feature, I'm not going to put a load of pressure on myself; if I watch a film, great, if not, well I'm sure I can think of something else to blog about.

I'm actually more excited to show you the badge I made especially for this feature. It occurred to me during the A to Z Challenge that when I blog, I really don't tend to use pictures which can make my posts look a bit boring. So I've decided to jazz it up a bit:

What do you think? Is it weird that I'm strangely proud of it...?

Anyway, let's move on to the actual point of this feature: films. The movie I want to talk about this week is The Maze Runner.

The Maze Runner is a film based on the popular YA book series by James Dashner. It follows the story of Thomas, who has no recollection of who he is or where he comes from. When he wakes up in The Glade, an encampment surrounded by a terrifying stone maze, it's up to him and the other boys imprisoned there to find their way out before it's too late. But with the maze resetting itself every day, and terrible creatures called Grievers roaming the corridors at night, is it already too late for them to escape?

I haven't read this series, but despite my reservations from the reviews I've read about the books, I did enjoy the film. The story was fast and action-packed, and there was always something going on which kept my interest. Thomas' relationships to the other boys was fascinating; I loved seeing how he interacted with those boys who had been in The Glade for three years and how they took to his presence. Some of them welcomed him with open arms, others, well, not so much.

However, I do have to admit that there were a couple of things I didn't enjoy so much. For one, I had to look up the name of the main character as I wrote this post because he was kinda forgettable. He seemed like your average YA hero - pretty to look at, but not an awful lot going on behind the scenes. When he enters The Glade, the other boys deliberately keep important information from him, which he seems to accept without too much of a fight. If it was me, I'd be screaming at them to tell me what was going on.

While I did enjoy the overall premise of the film, I couldn't help feeling like it was all a tad ridiculous. Apparently this story is set in a dystopian world which has been ravaged by nuclear war...that's pretty much all we're told in the film, and I couldn't help feeling like if this world was real, surely the government wouldn't squander resources on a giant maze designed to kill the youngest and healthiest survivors of the human race? Can you imagine how much manpower, building materials and time it would take to build this:

Maybe this idea and the concept behind the maze is explored in more depth in the books, but I wasn't very satisfied by the lack of explanation in the film.

Overall, despite making me scoff a few times (such as when one boy unveils a miniature wooden sculpture he's managed to craft of the maze - tell me, how was this possible if the maze is always changing?) this film isn't bad - if you're looking for a bit of escapism for a rainy afternoon and you enjoy other YA films such as Divergent or The Hunger Games, then you'll definitely enjoy this too.

Have you seen the Maze Runner? What did you think of it? Have you read the books? What films have you been watching this week?