It's called the Maze Runner for goodness sakes!

Rating: 4/10 (11 December 2014)

Begin with the title - The Maze Runner... There is not enough running, not enough of the maze, and even when it gets there: the maze running isn't that good. What is good? The acting surprisingly! Which means the directing isn't that bad. All characters really sell their respective parts, and the casting could be much worse. But the script is terrible. As interesting as the opening is, and it is only kinda intriguing, the story unfolds in a series of predictable and cliché turns... until the end. The conclusion includes the impossible, as in an actual impossible encounter (anyone else notice?)... then an open ending that (as far as I can tell) is not foreshadowed in any meaningful way. While not overly violent - there is an astonishing amount of death, but almost none of it carries any weight, except when the cliché death must occur... and it is predictably not a very good moment in the film. I only recommend this film to media addicts like myself, who will get something from this movie - fresh faced youngsters giving it their all. With a better pen and typewriter this could have been a solid film, but it is only slightly better than trash - and it's current rating around 7 is not earned - it is stolen by use of pandering to the masses.