Rather nasty...

Rating: 3/10 (21 January 2015)

It seems that Hollywood is always looking for the next franchise film series aimed mostly at young adults. Following in the wake of the "Harry Potter" films, other series were quickly put into production to see if they could be the next billion dollar franchises. Some, such as the "Golden Compass" simply fizzled whereas "Twilight" and "The Hunger Games" hit pay dirt. In light of these big bucks, it's not surprising that "Maze Runner" would make it to the screen, since it's just the first of three books--three books which seem strongly inspired by "The Hunger Games"...only a bit gloomier. And, given that it's already earned about three times its cost just here in the States, it's not surprising that the sequel is due to be released next September.
So is the film any good? Well, it looks nice. Other than that, no. It's violent and nihilistic without the interesting social commentary or originality that you get from the "Hunger Games" films. Instead, it's just ultra-violent and nasty--with scores of teens being killed for our entertainment. Plus, in the "The Hunger Games" films you have plucky and likable characters with some depth, but in "The Maze Runner" they seem much more flat and ill-defined. In other words, they're mostly just there to be killed or survive but little else. Overall, it's a film with little depth, lots of nasty mayhem and a cast of cute boys meant to appeal to the same folks who love "Twilight".