It took me a while to realize that Gally isn’t a villain. He’s a scared kid holding onto the 1 certainty that he remembers. That certainty being that the box sends supplies, we live. He saved Thomas from wandering into the maze right before it closed, which would’ve trapped him in the maze overnight. You gotta remember, none of these characters are even 18. Most of the main characters have been there at least a year and have no memory of any adults whatsoever. Gally was a scared kid, and when he got stung, the last shred of sanity he had was gone, and he wanted vengeance on Thomas because he sat by and watched them die for so long.
Yeah its kinda forced that they want you to think he is... How hard is it to say 'woah dont leave the door is about to close and you'll be stuck'? its not even like he was Running for the entrance. INstead they just run and shove him to the ground and then say 'next time ill let you leave' as if he did him some massive favour. the whole things was escalated in a very jarring way.
So, Ben was banished because he tried to kill Thomas, not because he was stung. In the books, they actually already have the cure for the sting available to them (it's called the Grief Serum), and don't have to harvest it from the dead Griever, so it was entirely possible to save Alby with the serum if Minho got him back in time. Ben was too far gone for the serum to work.
yeah thats partially why I disliked the movie, since it changed SO MANY plot points, like the grief serum, the cliff, the actual way the gladers escaped, and the fact that gally was being mind controlled, not stung.
@@alm2587 if I recall correctly, the gladers escaped through a series of like 4 or 5 passcodes that had to be input into a computer. the passcodes were revealed because, since the maze changed but it looped, you could overlap the layout and it'd reveal a letter. the computer and the room it was in was all hidden inside an invisible hole inside The Cliff, the Grievers recharge spot.
I was a huge bookworm as a kid and I remember seeing this in theaters and immediately getting the books. There’s even a prequel book that, unfortunately while not getting a film adaptation, gives you an entirely new perspective on the lore itself. Very happy to see you watch this. The trilogy is phenomenal and I highly doubt you will regret it.
There are two prequels, they are (in narrative order): The kill order- Set in the maze runner universe when the first solar flares hit earth. The fever code- Immediately before the maze runner, focuses on the gladers before the swipe (memory supression), different POVs @@Bigvig_of_bogvog
I read all the books first then watched the movies. Man that prequel is so damn good tho. Did you know they have a new one in the series? Idk what it’s called but I haven’t read it yet I kinda thought they stopped finally but… 😂
Can’t get over people who always have to ruin the fun by saying the books were better, I think this trilogy was so amazing as someone who started reading the books after watching it and it is definitely a top teir movie series
@@jay_thebaguettemanI agree the movies are amazing, but the critics on the movies are fair, they changed the entire plot of the second and third films. I love the book series and the film series but they should be seperate because the movies were not good at adapting. Their Amazing movies but horrible adaptation
This is my favorite trilogy of all time.. not an easy thing to say. So many out there but, this, for me, tops them all. This trilogy checks all the boxes. It also introduced to me a forever crush, Rosa Salazar who plays an important character in the next two. Rosa also stars as Alita: Battle Angel. Great reactions Don! I am glad you enjoyed this. ✌️😎
Two things they never touch on in the movies but you asked about: 1- Wickd put chips inside each of the kids heads through which they can monitor and control them. Most of what Gally did in this movie wasn’t Gally. 2- They didn’t go back to rescue anyone because the maze wasn’t open to the outside, it just looked like it. Also, in the books, they weren’t rescued with a helicopter, they are rescued with an old bus.
Also it stands to reason that the greivers swarmed the glade after everyone left and everyone died except for Gally, hence why he appeared out of nowhere at the lab.
@@weareet3rn4l70 in the books they were like inside a dome, so what appeared to be the sky was not real. It was also said in the books that it never rained.
God, I remember the glut of these YA movies Divergent, Maze Runner, Hunger Games, The Mortal Instruments, Ender's Game, Chronicle, the list goes on and on.
this movie is actually a cinematic masterpiece, especially visually speaking, in the acting department and in the way they handled the mystery & anxiety feeling, a hidden gem pretty ahead of its time too.
If you know your classics, "The Maze Runner" is a retelling of "Theseus and the Minotaur," of course. Naturally, Thomas is Theseus, the hero. The Glade and the Gladers are Athens and Athenian youth, respectively. The Grievers are the Minotaur, the monster that feeds on the Athenian youth who have been offered as sacrificial victims. The Minotaur is half man, half bull. The Grievers are half organic, half machine. The WCKD mechanism that's found in the crushed Griever is Ariadne's thread, the key out of the maze. WCKD is King Minos. The maze motif is repeated in the "Scorch Trials" and "Death Cure." The Glade's Athens is, however, more like "The Lord of the Flies" than classical Greece. The Glade is, after all, an island in the middle of the maze. Themes in that well-known classic include the tension between groupthink and individuality, between rational and emotional reactions, and between morality and immorality. Things which we do see play out in Thomas and the Gladers. Thomas is the archetypal tragic hero. Tragic heroes are characters of elevated stature, both in birth and morality. Like most heroes, he has above-average intelligence, which means he has situational awareness; he's determined, which means he is firmly set in opinion or purpose; and he has a loyal close friend who guides, advises and helps him as he faces his trials. In the films, Newt clearly fits the role as Thomas' helper, his Ariadne. The Theseus myth also emphasizes the power of love. Ariadne helps because she has fallen in love with Theseus. Newt has also fallen in love with Thomas. As a tragic hero, Thomas is subject to a collective fate, the will of the gods, if you will, which had precipitated the solar flares that scorched the Earth and indirectly brought about the Flare virus. A common attribute of the tragic hero is that he once held a lofty position from which he has now been cast down. Thomas' hamartia has visited his own individual fate upon himself which prompts his present adventure-journey. His moral choices while part of WCKD led him to immoral behavior, the torture and deaths of his friends. In this way, Thomas assumed the role of a god over the Gladers. That's hubris. Humans, even if they're heroes, have to be taught they are not a god. Thomas' betrayal of WCKD precipitated his downfall and the tragic course his subsequent life followed. Tragic heroes suffer, and so Thomas suffers anguish throughout the trilogy. Another thing about the tragic hero motif is that those nearest and dearest to the hero often wind up either in some sort of deadly peril or just plain dead. Most often, it's dead. So, as you're watching the films you might ask yourself: Who's closest to Thomas? The three films mirror a three-act play. The first film, or first act, is primarily used for exposition, to establish the main characters, their relationships, and the world they live in. The film ends on the question of whether Thomas has escaped from the maze/WCKD or not. It seems incredible but heroic stories often follow the same basic pattern. In his book "The Hero with a Thousand Faces," Joseph Campbell, distilled the world's myths into a common structure which he called the monomyth or hero's journey. It's very concisely summarized as follows: A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man. That's the "Maze Runner" film trilogy in a nutshell. The whole trilogy is told more or less from Thomas' perspective. We know what he knows; as he learns, we learn. The Gladers don't like to talk about the maze. This may be out of fear and ignorance. That's frustrating for Thomas - and us. Only the runners know the secrets of this mysterious and sinister maze-realm and that imperfectly. In fact, the runners function as a sacred priesthood. Only when Thomas is anointed runner does Minho tell the new initiate all in the map hut, the Glade's holy of holies. We've learned pretty early on Thomas is a rule-breaker. In the first film, Thomas' dream-visions hint at his backstory and make his character ambiguous. Is Gally right about him? Then there is Theresa. Unlike Thomas, she completely breaks the Glade's paradigm. Her arrival is untimely, she's female, and she heralds the end of the Glade's supply lifeline. Totally inauspicious. What to make of all that? The interplay between Thomas and Gally is quite good in the first film. Gally isn't some cardboard caricature antagonist, he's very solid and real. As others have remarked, what Gally says makes complete sense. He and Thomas are in almost perfect antipodal balance with one another. Also, one wonders if after Thomas stung himself, he doesn't remember more than he lets on. He acts like he does. He seems to know why he was put into the Glade. Earlier, he told Newt and the others he didn't recognize Theresa, but we know he did. Very, very uncharacteristic of Thomas to lie. Does he have suspicions and not want to give voice to them? Or is he afraid that might make the Gladers more suspicious of him? It's also increasingly clear that all the Gladers knew each other before their arrival in the Glade. It turns out that probably half of the Gladers are immune to the Flare while the remaining are not immune. This is classic experimental design. You have a treatment group (immunes) and a control group (non-immunes). If some of the Gladers are immune to the Flare, what is the disease the grievers inflict? It can't be the Flare, because it would have to affect both immunes and non-immunes equally. Otherwise, the dynamic of the Trial would be altered. Everyone has to be equally terrified of all the dangers faced for the sake of the experiment. So, the griever sting must result in something similar to the Flare to which none of the Gladers is immune but also be 100% curable by WCKD. It also can't be communicable since having all the Gladers potentially die if one were stung would ruin the Trial. So, griever sting disease can only be acquired by being stung. The Flare virus is the "Maze Runner" trilogy's MacGuffin. Therefore, you really shouldn't try to make too much out of it. According to the films, by stress-stimulating the brains of the immunes an enzyme is produced that crosses the brain-blood barrier into the blood. This treatment of the immunes permanently alters their brain chemistry by creating new engrams and, hopefully, will yield a more effective enzyme. Once isolated, either directly from the brain or indirectly from the blood, this enzyme can be used either to temporarily arrest or, hopefully, eventually cure the Flare. The "Maze Runner" trials mean to produce the curative enzyme so humanity can be saved even if it means killing immunes. The Trials are an iterative process which WCKD hopes will converge upon a solution, i.e., cure. Some people get unnecessarily hung-up by Gally's appearance in the control room. They needn't. When the other runners quit after Alby was stung, they were seen palling-around with Gally. After Thomas and his mates left, Gally and the remaining Gladers, which no doubt included some of these runners, either 1) decided to pursue the "rebels" to force them back to the Glade or 2) Gally and his mates were evicted from the Glade by griever attack round two. Having no other place to go, they also headed for door #7. After Thomas and Minho had originally opened door #7, the maze reconfigured itself to funnel the Gladers to that door. During the trek to door #7, all Gally's mates were killed. He alone survived but had been stung. Gally acquired another "key" from a dead griever in the Glade or along the way. Either he didn't have to input the code again, or he had been told the code by the runners. Regardless, he reached the control room and while in his deranged stung state, meant to kill Thomas, the applecart up-setter. The WCKD agenda begs the question of does the end justify the means, a principle often associated with totalitarianism, which is the central theme of the "Maze Runner." The principle is part and parcel of consequentialism, a teleological theory that says whether an action is morally good or bad depends on its outcomes. The more good outcomes outnumber the bad, the better/more moral the action. Under this rubric if WCKD finds a cure, then WCKD is very good, indeed.
@@betterthanmacandcheese 🙂Well, more like an excerpt of a much broader analysis of this surprisingly complex and deep tragic trilogy addressing, amongst others, themes of selflessness v. selfishness, loyalty v. betrayal, the nature of good and evil, and same-sex love. In other reactors' reactions to TMR, there's additional analysis.
The reason section 7 closed is because the griever didn’t return to its home to close it so when the tracker got scanned it started to shut the section
I love your commentary, how you spoke throughout the movie as your were processing things for yourself. I often find myself as my mother says it “talking to the tv” when I ask questions out loud, but it’s just how my mind is processing all that is going on before me. I enjoyed this video a lot and will be checking out others of yours thank you!
i just realized everytime there was one Griever, there would be another or 2 more there too. no way when they were escaping the maze thought there would only be one griever
I think the gladers who survived (after the doors wouldn’t close) forgot that Alby literally said “When I’m not around Newts in charge” SO WHY DID PEOPLE JUST LET GALLY TAKE CONTROLL!?
Great reaction! 😊 Actually this is a movie trilogy. And you should definitely watch the remaining two movies. In the next movie you'll see why Thomas, Newt, and Minho are my faves of the group. In this movie you can see why Thomas and Minho are my favorites. In the next one, you'll see more of why Newt is my other favorite. 50:27 - 51:22 RIP to Chuck! 😢 No matter how many times I watch this movie, this scene is hard to watch. You definitely need to watch the rest of the trilogy. The next movie is "The Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials". Looking forward to your next reaction. 😊
Dude I just wanted to say that I had no idea who you were until the writer strike forced me to find original non studio content... Your reaction videos are so great and important to me that no matter what TV and movies come back I always love listening to your views on stuff I've seen... Thank you for creating something truly worth watching
Ive always been a fan of these types of movies where people are put in a simulation or some type of game and try to figure it out then try getting revenge on the people who put them in that place.
Dude this video was hella entertaining, this is _exactly_ what a reaction video to the Maze Runner should be, full of curiosity and investing yourself into the story. You've definitely earnt yourself a sub. 😄
This movie was the best movie theatre experience I've ever had. I still remember the feeling leaving the cinema... can't believe it's been almost 10 years...
I love this haha! Your reactions were very similar to mine when I watched these movies for the first time about two months ago. It's a super good trilogy! I do think you'll find that if you analyze Gally's character more, he isn't just a straight up *ss, but a terrified kid who can't remember anything and is scared of change. Like a comment below said, in the books he is actually being controlled by WCKD when he shoots Chuck. That being said, his actions weren't justified, but understanding his trauma helps me understand that he isn't purely bad. He is more than his bad traits, those bad traits are just heightened in the scary situation of the maze.
*heavy breathing intensifies* I watched this film trilogy 6 times in a row. It’s beautiful. (Ok I may be exaggerating) (maybe) Ok no but I love your reactions, these movies are so iconic. Anyone else sorta want this guy to watch saw?
Cool little thing I saw that I’m pretty sure is said in the books is most characters are named after famous scientists/ inventors Thomas is Edison Alby is Albert Einstein Newt is Issac Newton Chuck is charles Darwin And Gally is Galileo Minho apparently is supposed to be a future scientist, but in Greek mythology Minos created the labyrinth and the Minotaurs
He could've, but he might've just been lucky the Griever missed him on the first pass. Just by walking-by and from subsequent events, it appears the Griever knew he was somewhere about and was actively looking for him. It was moving slowly and deliberately. I mean, the Maze is huge, and the Griever was staying in this specific area. We don't really know what kind of sensory capabilities the Grievers have, either. The Gladers have implants in their brains, too. These could be used as geolocators by the Grievers. It's probably best to assume the worst. In other words, you can't hide from the Grievers, they will find you. Also, lying in a prone position isn't tactically advisable in this situation. Why? Because you can't get moving very quickly. You'd have to get up, potentially untangle yourself from vines and, if you think about it, you're already sort of boxed in, and the Grievers are clearly quick. It'd be like hiding in a closet in a horror movie. It's a high-risk strategy. If you're undiscovered, great. If you're found out, you have one option, and it's not a good one. It's almost certainly game-over. Another thing to consider is no one ever survived a night in the Maze, previously, so obviously Grievers are excellent hunter-killers. When the Grievers attacked the Glade, they pretty much had a 100% success rate. People have also suggested you should remain near the entrance to the Maze, but that's probably the first place Grievers would look for victims.
Maze runner came out of nowhere. One day it wasn’t here, the next it was. And I’m glad it is, still pissed about chuck though, kid reminded me of chunk from goonies.
I'm very glad I found this guy because I've been reading the first book only and it's really interesting to see this guy react to the movie as I have never watched it.
I didn't realise how chuck could forget about ben when chuck probably knew him when he wasn't stung but Thomas couldn't it just shows that chuck has dealt with losing people that he just knows how to forget about them easily
The funny thing is I watched the third part in cinema and didn’t know it was the third part so I had no clue who all of these people were but I cried out my eyes when newt died haha
The Maze Runner movies are my number 1, as a child I grew up watching them, for some reason I ended up being scared of the dark for years The 1st is the absolute best movie
22:14 I genuinely think I would’ve been a runner. And I would’ve been excited. Bc my curiosity gets the best of me and I’d most likely never get bored of it. And people would probably think I’m weird for that💀
