Movie Review: The Maze Runner

The Maze Runner (2014)
113 min - Action | Mystery | Sci-Fi 

19 September 2014 (USA)Director: Wes Ball
Writers: Noah Oppenheim, Grant Pierce Myers
Stars: Dylan O'Brien, Kaya Scodelario, Will Poulter
Thomas is deposited in a community of boys after his memory is erased, soon learning they're all trapped in a maze that will require him to join forces with fellow "runners" for a shot at escape.

Movie review by Holly (13 years old)

The Maze Runner was an a-MAZE-ing film with lots of action. I suggest you read the book considering that quite a few things were left out. The movie like I said was full of action and had no boring parts. The Grievers will terrify you and make your heart skip a beat. I strongly suggest that you see the Maze Runner, you wont be disappointed.

I give it 5 "WICKED" sheep. 

Movie review by Sharon (mom)

I took my daughter and 3 of her friends to the 10:15 showing at the IMAX. Holly has been looking forward to seeing this movie since last year when she first heard about it. She has also read all the books in the young adult series by James Dashner.

This cast is a middle school girl's dream

 

The movie is PG-13 and I suggest you be cautious about bringing anyone much younger. There are a lot of emotionally intense scenes and some pretty scary action scenes. The movie focuses on these elements from the book. The dialogue seemed sparse when you consider how much went on in the book, but it makes sense considering this is suppose to be an action movie. And whoa! Was there a lot of it.

I would suggest seeing it on the big screen if you want to get the full impact of the maze and the Grievers. You will find yourself jumping and holding your breath.

The acting...well, not the strong point of the movie, but they do a great job of screaming and running for their lives <G>. 

It was an exciting movie and worth a matinee price for an adult. Your older  kids will love it. But you might find them using Glader slang: "shank" "shuckface" "klunkhead" "greenie." Should you read the book first? I would say no as an adult because you find yourself dwelling on what they left out.

4 "running" Sheep

Comic Review: Hero Cats Issue #1 Action Lab Comics

HEROCATS OF STELLAR CITY #1
Writer(s): Kyle Puttkammer
Artist Name(s): Marcus Williams
Cover Artist(s): Marcus Williams

32 pgs./ FC/ All Ages

Action Lab Entertainment
Avengers and Justice League move over! The cutest heroes on the planet have
arrived! Meet the Hero Cats of Stellar City in this spectacular first issue. Not your ordinary house
cats, they're a tactical action-packed covert team dealing with extraordinary threats to humanity in
ways that will amaze. Variant fold-out cover limited to 2,000 copies!

Hero Cats! How can you resist? Issue one is narrated by Cassiopeia, at cat living in an observatory with the Quest family in Stellar City. We learn her story and she introduces us to her cat team. We get a little insight into the type of trouble these cats are out to stop.

Hero Cats is either a spin-off or runs in conjunction with another comic, Galaxy Man. You get a few sneak peek pages of that world. It is also for kids of all ages.

The artwork is bright and crisp. It depicts lot of action and humor. This is great comic for kids and for parents to read to/with their elementary school kids.

There is also website and Facebook page dedicated to the feline heroes!

https://www.facebook.com/herocatscomics

http://herocatscomic.com/

If you would like to get your kids interested in comics then check out Action Lab Entertainment's website. There are lot of choices for kids and some really fantastic ones for girls with strong female heroines their age. Princeless has won many awards and recognition. I've reviewed some of that series on this site (here)

(For you adults out there, Action Lab has a mature line Danger Zone with some rock'n comics!)

I'm rating this on its fun factor for kids. As an adult...it's cute factor.

5 "hissing" Sheep

SharonStogner

I say this every time, but best freaking logo ever!

Crusade... Sign me up!

Crusade, written by the talented Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguie, was an unexpected delight for me. It had all the action, complicated plots, teenage angst and the required heartthrobs that I've come to love in my books. The storyline starts in Spain at a school for hunters, teenagers learning to fight The Cursed Ones aka vamps. The story revolves around a group of 6 hunters, each with their own reasons for joining the Academy. As per usual, when a group of teenagers are thrown together you get the frenemies, jealousy, crushes, rivalries... the list goes on and on. Combine this with an end of days attitude that the world seems to have adopted and you have an awesome storyline.

The Cursed Ones are at war with the world, and quickly overpowering mankind. Most are too afraid to fight back and are forming alliances to save themselves. When one of the hunters, Jenn, is called home due to a death in the family, she is separated from her group and finds herself in a life or death situation due to the ultimate betrayal. Her team comes to rescue her in New Orleans where they meet up with a group of people called The Resistance. Mayhem ensues, good battles evil, and everyones live changes forever.

I loved that this story portrays vampires in the negative light that they originally started in, before they became romanticized by authors like Stephanie Meyer. No offense to Twilight, but I like my characters to have a dark side, and vampires thinking they are gods just because they have fangs totally does it for me. lol. The characters are all struggling with their own internal battles and each has to find a way to overcome them in order to save the world they love. From feisty and timid to cocky and insecure, this group of hunters has every personality covered. I love the creativity that the writing offers. These authors paint a world that had me wanting to jump in the pages so I could sign up for my own academy and kick some fanged butt. I was completely consumed by this book; I can't wait for the sequel to come out!

My only complaint for this book is, I wish this was the second book. There are so many flashbacks to the 2 years they spent in the Academy that show why two people are in love while another two are constantly fighting, but not enough to actually give the complete story. It was just enough to tease me and make me want to experience the whole story for myself. Having said that, I have to admit that this is the first book in a long time where I feel comfortable saying it has an original storyline. It was so refreshing to read about characters who are witty, smart, troubled and know exactly who the good guys are. I loved every word.

4 1/2 Sheep

AC