The Maze Runner Review

Starring: Dylan O'Brien, Aml Ameen, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Ki-hong Lee, Will Poulter, Kayla Scodelario, Patricia Clarkson

The Maze Runner is the newest young-adult series to get a film adaptation. Now, while The Hunger Games and its sequels have gained immense praise from both fans and critics alike, and pulled in huge amounts of cash, only Divergent has come close to that success, and Tris only pulled in 40% of what Katniss did on her first film outing. Countless flops have been released, like Inkheart, Eragon, Ender's Game, Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief, and so many more. I'm happy to say that this movie reaches far beyond the standard YA adaptations we're all used to. As a reader of the book, I can also say that fans of the book will most likely be very happy with it.

The Maze Runner centers around Thomas, a teenager who awakens in a rusty elevator being delivered to a strange place, with no memories. He discovers that he, along with the other boys who are sent monthly, are delivered to the center of an intricate maze, and sets off a chain of events that start to give them their first clues to escape. The whole premise is that Thomas has no idea who he is, or what anything in the maze is, so exposition is hard to come by. You learn everything as Thomas learns it. Some details are very vague, so if you can't stand not knowing what's going on, be warned, there's a lot of mystery. The ending reveals mostly every secret the movie had in the last 90 minutes, but this movie is definitely pointing to a much more intense sequel.

The Hunger Games was praised by critics (84% Rotten Tomatoes), and fans of the book did enjoy the film, but The Hunger Games: Catching Fire was immensely loved. With 90% of critics behind it, everyone was pretty much in unison that it immensely improved upon its predecessor, and even made it look bad in comparison. I think that's what The Maze Runner is doing. It's a compelling first attempt, that's good in its own right, but I think the sequel, which after an impressive box-office debut of $32 million, is coming in 2015, will greatly improve on the premise presented to audiences, and make for a great movie. I loved The Maze Runner, and encourage everyone to see it.

Rating: 4/5 stars