Disappointing

Rating: 4/10 (18 December 2014)

In a way, this movie is a little like the Peter Pan story. Instead of Neverland, it is the Glade at the center of a Maze. And instead of Peter Pan and the Lost Boys, it's Alby and his gang of Gladers. Instead of the ravenous crocodile, it is the super-sized arachnoid Grievers. Instead of Captain Hook and his band of pirates, it is the WCKD (read wicked) personnel. And instead of Wendy and her Darling brothers, it is Thomas and Theresa who come late to the party but once they've arrived, the adventure is afoot.
Alby and the other boys suffer amnesia upon initial entry into the Glade. Other than name, and even that takes a few days to return to memory, they have no recollection of who they are. (Sounds like Peter Pan looking for his shadow, doesn't it?).
I was disappointed in this movie. But I confess, I never read Dashner's books. Maybe if I had, the story would have made more sense. I am not daft. I have seen other movies adapted from books I had not read, and was able to understand the story in those. But I did not understand this one. And after investing 2 hours, I arrived at the end of the movie and still did not understand what had happened.
There were just so many questions that remained unanswered. And so many events in the movie made no sense. Too many contradictions like, why is there a verdant glade in the middle of a desert? In fact, it would be exhausting to try to list them all here.