The Darkest Minds is a clunky flick for those missing Maze Runner
The Darkest Minds is aiming for a Hunger Games-style dystopian future, where superpowered teens are persona non grata
ADAPTED from Alexandra Bracken’s YA novel, we find ourselves in a dystopian future where 98 per cent of children are dead – while the rest boast superpowers but have been thrown into prison camps.
A quartet of these X-Kids go on the run, seeking a safe haven where children do farming and stuff, far away from the President, who wants them to, oh, I don’t know. I gave up.
Amandla Stenberg (Rue from the Hunger Games) plays Ruby, an “Orange” – the most dangerous tier of powers.
The lowest, hilariously, is a Green – whose power is simply to have “good ideas”.
Mandy Moore plays a helper whose presence is never really explained in a film that is laden with clichés and clumsy metaphors.
Clearly created to fill a gap left by Maze Runner, the Hunger Games and even the Harry Potter movies, The Darkest Minds doesn’t come remotely close.
It is a melting pot of all those films’ plots without any of the setup or intrigue.
Kids fall in love and start fights within five seconds of meeting, while the nonsensical plot holes and awful characterisations are almost embarrassing to watch.
This is lazy and wholly undeserving of the audience it cynically seeks.
THE DARKEST MINDS (12a) 104mins
★★☆☆☆