The Maze Runner succeeds as the next big franchise with an engaging story, intense action sequences, and a solid cast of actors

Rating: 8/10 (30 October 2014)

The previews for this movie interested me and after seeing that it was from another book series, I decided to read all of them, particularly the first one. It was gripping and kept me hooked. So, when the film finally came out last month, I was expecting this film to live up to my expectations and to my surprise, it turned out to be an intense and well-acted film. It isn't one of the best book-to-film adaptations like Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia, and The Hunger Games, but considering that it avoided the tired trend of young-adult romance movies, this is one of the better films of the year.
The story, for the most part, is interesting and kept the spirit and tone of the book intact while keeping some of the minimal changes which were acceptable. It also has some smart dialog and explains the details of how the people are trapped in a maze and their attempts to find a way out very well. The pacing is mostly decent and gives its time to develop not only the main protagonist, but the other characters as well. The music score is pretty good and it fitted the tone of the film perfectly; the direction from Wes Ball (who worked on a CGI animated short named Ruin that inspired the idea of the film) is nice. Also, the CGI visual effects on the Maze and the scenery are beyond fantastic it gives the film a big scale to it despite it's lower budget, but the best part would have to go to the acting. It had some very strong performances and portrayed the characters perfectly.
Dylan O'Brien did a perfect job as Thomas, who develops from a confused teenager with no memory of who he is to a brave leader. The other characters are also good. Alby, the leader of the group of people called the Gladers in the Glade, Newt, the second in command and friend to Thomas, Gally, the arch-nemesis of Thomas, and Teresa all support the film with flawless effort. Mostly Teresa who doesn't come across as a love interest, but instead sharing a connection to Thomas. Then, there's Patricia Clarkson as a scientist who explains how the Gladers were brought to the Maze in the first place because of an experiment she and other scientists tested.
Before I end this review, there are two problems that I do have with this film.
Aside from the nice direction from Wes Ball, the camera angles on the action scenes felt kind of shaky much like the ones from The Hunger Games. Also, the flashbacks in Thomas's mind throughout the film felt poorly placed and could've been handled better. That's all I have to say.
Overall, The Maze Runner isn't one of the best young-adult adaptations, but with an engaging story, intense action sequences, and a solid cast of actors, it succeeds as the next big franchise and due to it's sequel hook, I will anticipate for the sequel, The Scorch Trials, in 2015.