An Exciting, Dark and Surprisingly Good Blockbuster

Rating: 8/10 (7 February 2015)

I can see how people are turned away by this film by either its similarities to "Lord of the Flies" or to other young adult books- to-film movies like "The Hunger Games" and "Divergent," but let me say, this is better than most of these young adult-themed movies, including the first Hunger Games movie. I won't write-up the plot, since it's been written elsewhere and on other reviews; straight into the review we go.
"The Maze Runner" is a surprisingly fantastic sci-fi thriller that succeeds by having superb acting, fantastic visual effects with a stellar production design, a pulse-pounding musical score, focused direction and a well-written script that, while does have clichés, works with them in a very good and fresh way. I personally was impressed with the acting a great deal, especially Dylan O'Brien and Aml Ameen. The visual effects were awesome and never looked cheesy or under-valued, which is even cooler since the film is fairly low- budgeted compared to most blockbusters, taking the "District 9"- route. Wes Ball's direction was outstanding, the way he captured the dark, haunting atmosphere, that sense of a looming evil and how the unknown was the biggest enemy, not just the terrifying Grievers (which were actually creepy). The script, too, was outstanding, but seemed to lack the full force the film required to be an absolute SF classic. It's here one can draw many comparisons, but even so, it was still well-written and didn't slip up once, playing into its clichés by placing them in spots you don't see coming until they happen, leaving you with the "Ah, i should have seen that coming!"- moment.
"The Maze Runner" is a great beginning to a new series of films that will probably extend outside a trilogy, with a prequel having been written and another on the way next year. Hopefully "The Scorch Trials" step up the atmosphere and writing, and with original cast members attached and Wes Ball directing still, i have high hopes.