Hello, CSU! I’m down in Denver with my family this weekend, and today we decided to go see The Maze Runner. Let me tell you what, it was amazing! I loved it. But it was definitely very different from the book. Beware, spoilers ahead!
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Minor Character Discrepancies
Most of the characters looked exactly how I’d imagined them, but others, like Gally, were totally off. I’m someone who always wants the actors and actresses to have exactly the same hair color, eye color, and characteristics as the characters in the books. I know this isn’t always possible, but that doesn’t keep me from wanting it.
The Changing
In the book, “the changing” was a part of life for the Gladers. A handful of boys, including Gally, had been through the changing and lived because of a serum sent to them by The Creators. In the movie, the serum doesn’t exist until the character of Teresa comes along with some vials in her pocket. This alone changes aspects of the plot, such as Gally’s feelings toward Thomas and everything that occurrs with Ben after he was stung.
The Grievers 
Okay, this is a tough one. For anyone who has read the book, you’ll know that the Grievers are strange creatures that are part slug part machine, and they are very hard to conjure up and picture in my mind. Even though the movie did a good job of portraying them, I didn’t think they looked very much like the creatures in the book. The Grievers are slug-like and they roll around. In the movie, they are more spider-like, with big metal legs that they scurry along on. Terrifying? Yes. Reminiscent of the book? Not quite.
The Runners
The Runners in the book are a large group of boys who go out in the maze everyday and then document what they find on paper. Their headquarters has hundreds and hundreds of hand drawn maps that the boys study every day. In the movie, there is one large model of the maze, and that is it. Minho says that they have the maze all memorized, and really they just go out in the maze every day to give the other boys hope.
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The Griever Hole
The Griever lair is SO different in the book. There isn’t some mechanical piece that shows Thomas and Minho where the exit is. The Griever Hole in the book is located at a dead end of the maze. It is transparent, so the boys only find it when they see a Griever jump over the ledge of the maze and disappear instead of falling to its death below. There is so much detail I could go into here but I won’t for sake of time.
There is so much else I could discuss but it would be overkill, I think. Overall, I thought the movie was absolutely fantastic. The actors were wonderful, the scenes were believable, and everything about it had me on the edge of my seat. I most definitely recommend you see the movie and read the book…but not in that order, of course.
Have a good one!
