THE MAZE RUNNER (2014)

A teenage dude wakes up in a darkened freight elevator that's going up.  He has no memory of his past or where he is.  He can't even remember his name.  Finally, the elevator stops and he finds himself is a large field.  The field is surrounded by massive stone walls hundreds of feet high.  But he's not alone, there are other teenage boys.  Some of them have been there for years and they have developed a small society in order to prevent chaos.  As the boy is given a tour, he learns that the walls are part of a giant maze.  A giant maze that they are inside of and that changes each night.  The main door to the maze opens each morning and closes each night.  Then at night creatures called the Grievers are released and you don't want to be inside when that happens.

Going into THE MAZE RUNNER, I knew absolutely nothing about the story and I ended up liking it quite a bit.  So much so that I started reading the book and even though I'm only halfway through it I like it much more than the movie.  That said, the film is still an entertaining ride and hopefully the start of an awesome series.  Likable main characters, the maze itself was cool, the Grievers were awesome, good pace, nice special effects, interesting story that leaves you longing for more.  All in all THE MAZE RUNNER is a solid movie.  Recommended.

Part 2 - Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015)
Part 3 - Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018)

JOHNNY MNEMONIC (1995)

I've heard some pretty negative things about this film over the years.  That's probably why it's taken me 20 years finally watch it.  So...were all of those negative comments accurate?  Yeah, pretty much.

Set in the year 2021, Johnny is a data courier who stores data in his 80 gigabit hard drive enhanced brain. On the way to meet a customer in Beijing, he uses a "doubler" to increase his capacity to 160GB. Unfortunately, the package is 320GB so Keanu concentrates really hard and crams that 320GB into the 160GB hard drive.  As a result the data starts "seaping" into his brain and causing him to react violently to bright lights...just like a Mogwai.  Even worse, is right after he downloads the package a group of hitmen bust in and start killing everybody (one of the killers uses a thumb laser lasso!).  Johnny escapes and now the gangsters are after him.  The only person that can save him is a cyborg dolphin in New Jersey. Of course.

I was hoping that JOHNNY MNEMONIC would surprise me and be actually good or maybe silly to the point of being funny.  Sadly though, it's so bland that it's difficult to have much of an opinion about it one way or the other.  The story comes off more confusing than it actually is, the future looks like shit, the CGI is ridiculous, zero nudity, TV show level action scenes, Henry Rollins as a doctor, an "eye phone", Keanu Reeves acting like he just saw the lines for the first time 30 seconds before they yelled "Action".

Good for a few chuckles, but honestly, outside of morbid curiosity or campy train wreck thrills I can't think of much reason to waste your time watching this movie.