This is a surprisingly great young adult thriller!

Rating: 8/10 (27 September 2014)

The Hunger Games meets Lord of the Flies in this surprisingly engrossing young adult thriller. I'm unfamiliar with this series of books, but thought the trailer looked amazing and had an interesting concept; so I decided to take a chance. Trailers often let you down, so I didn't get my hopes up. But I was stunned as to how well made this movie was. It tense from start to finish and thoroughly engaging throughout. I can't recall a single cheesy line or unnecessary moment; every line of dialogue further develops the characters, every scene slows builds the tension and every revelation moves the story forward and piqued my interested. The soundtrack goes a long way in creating a sense of danger at just about every turn and the special effects for the maze (and it's inhabitants) make it very ominous and at times, terrifying.
Unlikely Divergent, the performances of this young cast are very convincing and draw you into the film; one of the best youth ensembles I've ever seen. The tension builds and builds to a thrilling climax and a fairly unexpected twist (or two). The ending does leave you with some probing questions about the central premise, but I didn't take away too much from the film overall. I think this sets up nicely for the remaining films and given how good this first film is, I'm definitely going to see them. I think this is a better opening film than The Hunger Games in my opinion and if the sequel is half as good as Catching Fire, we'll have a great series on our hands. The critics haven't given this film it's due, it's one of best movies (and theatre experiences) of the year. Get out and see this, you won't regret it.
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