The Maze Runner (Book vs. Movie)
Movie adaptations of novels are really common nowadays. We
would usually say "Hey, let's just watch the movie, it would be way
quicker." But did you ever wonder if there was a difference? Or is it
exactly the same? Usually in movies, the timeline would be a lot shorter. Of
course, they have to compress the whole book and cut some scenes out. Sometimes there are only a few changes from
the book to movie. And those changes usually doesn't really affect the story
line. But sometimes, some movies would
make drastic changes from the story. There is case that the movie franchise
wasn't allowed to be continued due to these changes.
While reading books, your mind would start picturing out
images from the event you've just read. But a movie could actually bring those
imaginations to life. You would then start to compare these images. If the
movie has indeed met your expectations, or were they able to bring more that
you had expected. You also get to see your favorite character come to life and
judge if the actor playing the role has done a good job in portraying that
role. However by reading a book, you can actually know the thoughts and
feelings of the main character which is not normally reviled in the movies. Usually
people would say the book is always better than the movie. But this time, I
heard a rumor saying that the movie is actually better than the book. I wanted
to find out about it myself, so I decided to read the book and compare.
The maze runner depicts a story that is out of the ordinary,
deviating from your usual supernatural events (Vampires and werewolves ). It
sets on a futuristic time where the world is in catastrophe, and people try to
find means to survive it. However, like hunger games, the story is about
survival of the fittest. A bunch of kids put to the test by adults, and they do
all they can to survive these tests. The novel is comprised of 4 books. The
movie adaptation of the maze runner was released last September 2014. And like
I mentioned earlier, there are scenes from the book which were cut-out or
altered. And if you only watched the movie, here's what you missed...
The Glade
*In the book: They were stuck in the Glades for 2 years. They
1st sent up a big group of kids, then started sending up a greenie every month
for the past 2 years. There wasn't a make-shift fortress (the one Teresa got on
when she woke up). The glade was big and comprised of many sections and jobs
for every gladder. They even have their own chef (wasn't really mentioned in
the movie). And they could actually request supplies from the creators by dropping
a note every time the box comes up. However they don't always get what they
request. They also have a weapons room. But they don't have a miniature
model of the maze like in the movie.
*In the movie: It was 3 years. However, they never sent
up a big group. Just one greenie at a time every month.
The Grieve Serum
*In the book: They actually have a supply of the serum.
The creators would sent it them along with their weekly supply. A couple of the
gladers had already been stung and undergone the "Changing". They
would sometimes use the term "Bite", "Stung", or "Prick"
but the needle isn't as big as in the movie. It was so small that you would only
know that you have been stung when you feel a stinging sensation all over your
body.
*In the movie: They gave an impression that once you're
stung, there's was no cure. Not until Teresa came with two syringes filled with
blue serum from WCKD.
Thomas & Theresa
*In the book: When Thomas went up the box, the only
memory he had was his name. He and Theresa have telepathy, which they would
usually use to communicate with each other. They didn't have visions or dreams
about Wicked and what happened in the lab. Although Theresa may have some
memories, but they were slowly fading away as she woke up from the coma she was
in. When Thomas got stung and underwent the changing, he had some of his
memories back. He then called for a gathering as soon as he woke up and
explained to the keepers what had happened.
*In the movie: He had no memories at all and it took a
fight with Gally to remember his name. He would usually have random visions and
dreams of Wicked and Theresa. Dreams where they would say "Wicked is good"
and "Everything is going to change."
*In the book: He was a lot grumpier, less approachable.
After the "Changing" he actually lived a few more days. At one point
he became a traitor and burned all their maps because he was too afraid of
going back to the real world. However, when they were trying to escape the
maze, he sacrificed himself for the gladers allowing a bunch of grievers to rip
him apart.
*In the movie: Alby was the 1st glader. And he died after
he saved chuck from a griever.
Newt
*In the book: He is quite strong, but he is limp. He was actually a
runner till he had an accident in the maze causing injury to his leg. He was traumatized
by the maze ever since.
Gally
*In the book: He got stung by a griever before because he
wandered into the maze ( he wasn't a runner). He stormed out of the gathering
of the keepers after making a scene when they talked about what to do to Thomas
after saving Alby's life. He went missing ever since. He showed up when the grievers
started attacking the glades only to be taken by them. He then showed up again
at the lab with Ava Paige to meet the survivors. He then tells the survivors
that he was being controlled somehow then throws a knife to Thomas, but Chuck
got in the way.
*In the movie: Gally took control of the glades after grievers attacked. He
tried to convince the gladers that it was best if they stayed behind, and that
they shouldn't trust Thomas and Theresa. At the end, he did manage to catch up
with the survivors, but he was stung by a griever. He tried to shoot Thomas
with a gun, and was killed by Minho with a spear.
The Escape (based on
the book)
There was a cliff within the maze where you can't see much
but mist and illusion. But somewhere in the illusion was the griever hole. Thomas never actually squashed a griever
between a changing wall, so they weren't able to find the "key" which
was in the griever. Instead they gathered the maps they made from their records
of their day-to-day run. They then traced the map on some wax paper for each
day and put the 8 sections of the traced out map on top of each other. By doing
so, each day revealed a letter. And the letters combined revealed a code" FLOAT
CATCH BLEED DEATH STIFF PUSH". Which was then entered into the computer in
the griever hole.
Theresa did trigger the "ending" when she woke.
However other events happened before they escaped the maze. The sun was gone
and they were stuck in the twilight zone for days. The maze doors did open and
the grievers did come and attack but there wasn't a massacre. The grievers took
only one glader every night. Once Thomas got his memories back and formulated a
plan. The gladers prepared themselves. They packed and equipped themselves for
the maze. There were actually 41 of them. However due to the surprise attack
from the grievers within the maze, only 21 gladers survived. When they got to
the lab, the creators were still alive and observing them. It was only after
chuck died when the military stormed in the lab and killed the other scientist
to save the surviving gladers.
They then were taken to a facility by bus. They never
actually saw the maze stucture. However, they saw the land and what the flare
did to it and the people.
Others that weren't
mentioned:
*There was another mechanical creature other than a griever-- a Beetle blade;
small mechanical beetle with red glowing eyes with "WICKED" on its
back. It was supposed to be the spy/ camera for the creators.
*They were orphans. Smart kids that were taken when they were young. Their names
were nicknames that the creators made up like Alby for Albert Einstein, Newt
for Isaac Newton, and Thomas for Thomas Edison, etc.
*WICKED is actually an acronym " World In
Catastrophe: Killzone Experiment Department"
So if I were to compare the book and movie, I'd say its pretty good. Although alot of scenes were altered. The movie wasn't disappointing. They actually had good stuff in there. The way they made the maze did meet my expectation, however I would like to see the cliff. I somehow liked the book better because it explains a lot more.
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