Afterglow added

I never saw the TV series, so I won’t be making comparisons.

The story took a long time to get going as the mild mannered life of the hero had to be fully explored before the story began.

It was predictable in many places including the main plot, but then this does appear to be one of those ‘take you brain out and enjoy’ kind of movies. The action scenes were well done and the lack of anything even related to shakey cam was greatly appreciated.

It was entertaining, but it did overuse certain well known tropes. Perhaps it wouldn’t have been so predictable otherwise.

Anyway, I’m going to keep this short, There aren’t a lot of things in this movie to attack as feeling out of place, but then there isn’t a lot to suggest that this is an outstanding movie.

Warning spoilers

So you have a group of kids in a glade that is in the very centre of a maze. Although there is a little bit of enmity from one kid in particular,, there is none of the normal them an us attitude that I remember kids having back when I was that age. There is no group of kids ostrcised by the others for whatever reason suggesting that the writer doesn’t really know kids that well.

They are in the centre of a maze open to the sky, yet the suggestion they climb to the top is shot down without really trying. Indeed one kids tells the hero to keep his thoughts to himself because nothing he came up with hadn’t already been done. Well how would they know until he suggests them. It’s always good to get a new set of eyes on a problem.

To my mind there was always a way out of the maze that none of the kids ever seemed to consider. The way in. They should have dismantled the box and found a way to climb down the shaft.

Eventually about half the kids do escape. They reach a control room filled with ‘dead’ scientists and one of the kids they had left behind (who couldn’t have followed) he must’ve come down the shaft which must have been operated by one of the ‘dead’ scientists)

They are given an explanation as to what it was about via a taped message from the ‘dead’ leader of the ‘dead’ scientists. It’s uncertain whether she’s telling the truth though since we later find out the scientists aren’t really quite as dead as they appear.

No one thinks to send the lift up to fetch the kids left behind.

Then the worst bit from a strategy point of view. Allowing that they kids appearance might have triggered an alarm. Soldier appear in the control room and drag them out to waiting helicopters. Those helicopter must’ve been waiting there considering how quickly the soldiers arrived. This is very suspicious.

There was also plenty of room for the helicopters to land in the middle of the glade and rescue the kids earlier. Why didn’t they do that if they were really who they claimed to be, saving the kids the trouble of having to escape? (it all looks very suspicious)

Also, why do none of the rescued kids say, ‘We left some friends behind in the glade, could you just make a quick detour to pick them up?’

All in all it was a movie that borrowed a lot from other stories. It could have been greatly improved had they bothered to choreograph the action properly instead of making it unwatchable through shakey cam.

Other than that I suppose it wasn’t too bad a story. I’m tempted to give it just 2 stars, but my wife suggests it’s worth 3

Fleetwood Mac added

Inner City Unit added (late again)