Maze Runner Movie Placed Runner-Up Against Book

The bestselling novel “Maze Runner” by James Dashner hit the screens on Thursday, Sept. 18 for the premier.

Maze Runner is a story about a boy named Thomas (Dylan O’Brian) who got sent to “The Glade”. He woke up surrounded by a bunch of other teenage boys, and he had no memory of who he was or how he got there. The only thing he remembered was his name. “The Glade” is a big area of land that is surrounded by a huge, deadly maze that changes each night. The boys are locked in and only the designated runners can explore the maze. Thomas knows from the start he has a connection to the maze and that he is meant to be a runner, he just can’t pinpoint how or why. Days later, the first girl, Teresa (Kaya Scodelario), shows up at “The Glade”. Thomas has a connection to her, too.

The book is much more clear about Thomas and Teresa’s connection. In the book, they have the ability to speak through their thoughts. However, the movie completely left that captivating detail out.

I read the book only about one month ago, so it was fresh in my mind the whole time. I noticed any detail that got left out, and any details that were delivered differently. Any book that is turned into a movie is always better as a book, because it can be more detailed and thorough. This has never rang more true than in Maze Runner. To me, having just read the book, the movie zoomed by and left out the majority of important details. One instance was when the producers changed a major character’s death.

However, if I had not read the book, I would’ve been able to enjoy the thriller much more. It was constant action, and viewers were always waiting to find out what tragedy happened next. It was suspenseful, kept people thinking, and ended on a cliff-hanger.

Overall, I would rank the movie three out of five stars. The novels are confusing, and the screenwriter did a good job of leaving the confusion out to make a great movie.

The second book in the series, “Scorch Trials”, is scheduled to be hitting the theaters as a movie in 2015.