1. It’s aimed at young guys (but girls will love it too)!
Woah! A young adult GUY movie? After Twilight, almost every YA film made has been aimed at least somewhat towards women. Beautiful Creatures, The Host, The Mortal Instruments, none of them are guy movies. The only guys seeing these films are people being dragged by their girlfriends. The thing about male-based movies like The Maze Runner is that unlike guys and chick-flicks…girls like them too! Also, even differently than the “teen” audience… I feel like The Maze Runner will pull even younger guys, in the 10-13 range, away from their couches and into the movie theater. However, older guys will enjoy it too. This is a mature story, as well. It’s a mature action packed adventure that both guys and girls will love, and both young AND old people will love. It’s not dumbed down for young people – it’s going to feel real. No CGI Percy Jackson stiltedness.
2. The cast is nearly entirely male – and they aren’t all described as impossibly attractive. What?!
Bella, Tris, Katniss, Clary – the latest heroes of this latest YA film craze have all been women. There’s an obsession with the “strong female lead” but people are looking for something new! For some reason, guys and girls can relate to a male hero but males are reluctant to relate to a female hero. Since a guy wrote this book, you aren’t going to get descriptions of rippling abdomninals. Like Harry Potter, Thomas is an unlikely hero. He isn’t particularly athletic or confident at the beginning of the story, but we grow with him.
3. It doesn’t fit into any popular ‘genre’ exactly – the story is original!
Supernatural? Not really. Dystopian? Sort of. We don’t really know for most of the book since the entire plot shrouds our world in mystery. Romance? Certainly not. Is there a love triangle? Nope. If it must be categorized, it would be put into the “Sci-fi/Dystopian” mold. This has much wider appeal than fantasy. There are no vampires, no Shadowhunters, there are no passionate make-out scenes. The plot-point of the maze is extremely intriguing, so the audience is right there, gripped like James Dashner’s characters.
4. It features talented up-and-coming talent, mixed with seasoned veterans.
Dylan O’Brien is hugely talented, and plays the lead in this film. He has a huge fan base from his role of Stiles on Teen Wolf (seriously, have you been on Tumblr, recently?) and he’s refreshingly goofy and hilarious. We also have a cast of seasoned British actors like Thomas Brodie-Sangster of Game of Thrones, Kaya Scodelario of Skins, and Aml Ameen of The Butler. Then, we have Patricia Clarkson…Oscar winner! Plus, we have total newcomers like Blake Cooper as Chuck. This is a seriously impressive cast.
Wes Ball, an extremely talented young director (he created the short film, Ruin), has taken on this story as his first movie. So he’s diving into it with fresh eyes and understanding – and a lot of care and love. Then we have people like Wyck Godfrey, who is producing some of the biggest book-to-film adaptations the world has ever seen – Twilight, The Fault in Our Stars, and more. He knows what he’s doing. Experience, mixed with the wide-eyed excitement of talented newcomers is key here!
5. It’s based on an extremely popular book with a fanbase that reaches hugely wide demographic.
My 12 year old brother absolutely loves The Maze Runner, I love The Maze Runner. I’m a 21 year old girl! The author is a man, unlike any of the other popular YA book-to-films that have been made in the past few years. This makes it different. The world is always looking for something truly original, and I feel like this story fits the bill. The book is hugely popular, and has been for a while. The Facebook page of the film already has over 100,000 ‘likes.’ If that’s not proof of the pudding, I don’t know what is.
