The Maze Runner Trilogy (The Movies)

This original post was published 11/14/19. Only a few months before a real pandemic changed our lives... 

A Pre-Pandemic View of a The Maze Runner Movie Series

Nov 14 2019-

    Well, I really didn't know what I was getting into when I decided to watch these movies! I'd read the series twice through. (other then The Kill Order, I can't put myself though that one again..) I do not like to see a movie before reading the book. I don't even want to see the cast! I want it to all form in my head like the author planned it when he wrote it. I have never watched the end of the Hunger Games films due to how much they messed it up and I was not a fan of the casting. I was reading it when Mockingjay II came out and I kept seeing bits of the movie on TV... I was annoyed when I saw a big spoiler in a trailer!

    The first glimpse I got of The Maze Runner cast from the movies was actually on a site that was selling posters and stuff. I decided to take a look and was pleased I could tell which character was which! That was encouraging! I thought to myself if they mess up the casting of Newt then the movie was going to be bad... but at least the guy in the poster did meet the description of Newt and even the right body language in the photo... Thomas looked fairly well casted. Alby, Minho, and Chuck were easy to spot too... so I had hope! 

    So I start off the movie. Thomas looks a bit older then I had pictures in my mind but understandable. You don't want to hire a real 16 year old to carry a movie like that. Teens are often cast with older actors. Then here comes Newt. Now in the books Newt is a year or two older then Thomas and taller... that was not what I was seeing. (I know its silly but stuff like that bother me... can we say... Katniss' blue eyes and Peeta's brown?! Dye Katniss' hair brown and bleach Peeta's blond, nobody will notice... Oh, I noticed!) I noticed later that Newt is in fact a little bit taller then Thomas but it looks like they tried to hide that when filming. More over the very first thing I noticed was that Newt looked not much older then 14! What? All I could figure while watching it was he was perfect for the part so they hired him even though being too young... ok, I can get that. But it was a little funny though having the leader of the Glade looking like the youngest of the bunch besides Chuck... Then Newt opened his mouth, I feel a little bit stupid admitting this but I'd read the book several times at that point and only once had I noticed Newt talked like he was English, and then I forgot all about it. So it was a little surprising when Newt started talking. I quickly remembered it though and was kind of impressed that they actually decided to use that in the movie. When I read the books again after watching the movie I found where Newt's accent is addressed at the beginning of the first book. Someone makes the comment that Thomas would be able to understand what they were saying in apposed to Newt. I missed that completely till then. The only reason it accrued to me before seeing the movie was the phrasings that were used. I watch a fair amount of British shows on PBS and Youtube and it's funny sometimes hearing how their language is different then ours. I recognized Newt's phrasings where different then the other characters and sounded British. No, the constant use of "bloody" was not what tipped me off. It was the different structures of his sentences! 

    Chuck and Minho were well cast as well. I liked Alby but in the books he is not that likable but the change worked which will be a continuing theme with these movies. Gally was changed as well. In the books Gally had been stung by a Griever before Thomas arrives. Here he is stung afterward. Ben does try to kill Thomas but after being stung AFTER Thomas arrived. Unlike the book nobody even ever sees a Griever before Thomas arrives.

    The change that did really seem stupid to me is that they do not remember their name when they arrive. It comes to them later. Thomas does not remember his name until he hits his head while wrestling with Gally. I really don't understand why they made that change. To me it added nothing to the story.

    As the movie goes on more and more of the story gets rewritten. In my opinion its best not to read the books before watching these... cause if you do you will get way too confused! The first time I watched them I didn't know what to make of what I had just seen... the more they changed the more they had to change to have it make since. They were good at having important things happening but for a completely different reason then it did in the book! Gally still does kill Chuck but not because they were being controlled by WICKED but out of insanity caused from getting stung by a Griever. And Chuck is shot not stabbed and instead of Thomas beating Gally up he gets stabbed with a spear... You can completely forget about WICKED controlling their thoughts at all in the movies. Thomas and Teresa never have a telepathic connection.

    Then we move on to The Scorch Trials... this is were the story completely changes from the books. In the book they are taken to a place where they are nearly starved to death and all other sort of tests to continue the testing on their "Killzone" patterns. The only nod to the beginning of the book was a cut scene where the surviving Gladers are fed after being taken out of the maze. Yes, the scene was cut but you can find it on YouTube along with some other really important scenes that were cut. So yeah, completely forget what you think you know about The Scorch Trails. They basically took out the Scorch Trials in The Scorch Trails!

    So, new movie, new characters are added. The cast of The Maze Runner was so well cast and true to the books. The Scorch Trails veered away from the book a bit more. I personally think Aris was the weirdest. In the book Aris was clearly Asian and pretty normal and likable. (and telepathic, but we know that goes out the window at this point) In the movie we get this awkward really strange kid bordering on outright creepy with this strongest southern accent that is so out of place you can't figure out what they were thinking when they cast this guy and told him to play the character that way! Come to think of it I've watched a lot of interviews with the cast but I don't recall seeing him interviewed... I don't know if that is the way he really talks or if he is weird in real life or not. (that's something I should look up, lol)

    In the book there is a very important shifting of power between Newt, Minho, and Thomas. Since this is no longer "The Scorch Trials" this no longer has a place in the story. Thomas takes the lead and with only a little flack Newt follows behind him. (Again, fairly important cut scene addressing this can be found on YouTube) If you have read the book you are wondering at this point what is the point of this movie?! Honestly even though I do like these movies and think they were well done I see this one the weakest of the three when it come to plot.

    But back to the new cast mates here. The Gladers do link up with Brenda and Jorge... but no, Brenda's backstory had to be rewritten as well being there is no reason for her to be there if there is no trials going on. As for the actress, she wasn't bad... but she wasn't quite what I pictured as Brenda either. And the hair... why did they make her look like a boy? And THEN she catches the Flare! Yeah, her back story was completely changed. I did not understand why Thomas pulled out Chucks art when they are talking about Brenda's brother George. (which if you have read the books you realize he was in the Maze and died) I have to wonder why they didn't make Brenda's brother Chuck... not some Glader we never even see except for his name carved on a wall. If you are going in that direction she should be Chuck's sister. The audience would develop a much stronger connection to her and Thomas would actually be able to give her the thing he made for his mother.

    So how old was Jorge in the books? That is the question, lol. I think in the books he was likely meant to be in his 20s/30s but I don't have a problem casting him older like that. It makes since. His age does not effect the character at all but in the movie we are left wondering, why doesn't he get the Flare? In the books he is immune working for WICKED in the trials.

    Now they did keep the part about there being another Maze with only girls and that as in the book is where Aris had been. So they do bring in Sonya and Harriet. These two were cast true to the book. Harriet was dark skinned and Sonya was Newt's sister and does resemble him. It is never address in the movies about the whole thing of Sonya/Lizzy being Newt's sister but going by the way they cast her I think they were suggesting that. And I give these movies credit for details like this even though so much was rewritten. Like Newt has a limp from the first movie though it was never addressed until the last film and... then cut, but... I'll get into that later!

_________(below, addition to blog 9/17/2021) 

   The Death Cure strays the most from the books... cause they had to due to all the changes they made in the prior movies. But I can't say I hated it. So with all those changes the character of Newt became even most important. In the book we lose him about half way through but that is not the case in the movie. They did stick with the back story of Newt for the most part but the scene that addresses his suicided attempt was also cut from the movie. The scene can be found on YouTube if you want to see it. This in the book was a very important part of the story in the book and even with the rewrite is still important in understanding why Newt makes the choses he does. With this left out we don't know why Newt choses Minho life over his own... 

  But you know with all these changes they could have made one big one that I don't think many would have minded... let Newt live. In the books there was no way of saving Newt it was only a question of when and where. In the movie they could have saved him... and can we acknowledge how likable and just freaking adorable the movie version of Newt was. He was likeable in the book but... why did they have to do that to us...?

  All in all it's a good movie series. It's not the books. But it's well written. If you have never read the books you would enjoy it for the most part. Actually you may enjoy it more if you haven't read it! If only I could say that about the Hunger Games... Yeah, I'll never get over that...