The craze of this maze will amaze

Rating: 7/10 (21 October 2014)

Greetings all,
Upon hearing that another trilogy of books were to turned into movies I approached this film with trepidation. What I expected was another formulaic, open ended movie designed only for making money. I can gladly say this hypothesis was wrong.
We're delivered a tense thriller, most impressively, through a fairly young and unknown cast. This is a character driven film for sure, and one of the main characters is the four giant walls surrounding the trapped group of individuals. I jest, but they really do add an ominous feel to the intrigue of their entrapment.
Let me voice my pleasure with the few issues I had. The so called forest that lies within the 'glade' however, which seemed to be displayed with varying degrees of size depending if one was inside or outside of it. Although not to it's detriment, there was a large number of the cast there for the sole purpose of numbers. To me, the unnamed characters that don't receive much of a part in this sort of film generally come across as the fodder, and this case it is fair to say they were nothing but.
I did not care for the hierarchy of the group and find some of the behaviour (apart from the lead character) and adherence to simple rules a little unbelievable when all the while we must remember they are trapped.
The premise chugs along nicely, although I must say the end suffered heavily from being the first of a potential franchise, with the finale as predictable as ever.
These aspects are not to deter you from watching this film however, as they are relatively minor negatives. Overall I was very pleased with the end product.
I think one of the highlights of this film working is the camera direction, never venturing beyond the maze walls for the majority of the film's duration, a master stroke surely.
Boasting some great visuals, the monsters are little more than a plot device but they serve their purpose well enough. With a quality direction and a well-rounded young cast who maintain the viewer's belief in their peril this could be an exciting taste of things to come.