"Lord of the Flies," meet "Cube"

Rating: 6/10 (20 February 2015)

This is a pretty strong entry in the youth action genre (think "Hunger Games"), but the scriptwriters mess it up a bit at the end with unnecessary clichés.
Like the much better mother of them all, the 1963 version of "The Lord of the Flies," the film presents us with boys building their own makeshift society on an island, this island being contained in a gigantic maze. Like the much better "Cube," the maze shifts around and is filled with deadly things.
None of the young adults have any idea of how they got there, but the two most recent arrivals, a curious boy and a GIRL are stirring up a mess. The new arrival Thomas (they appear mysteriously every month through an elevator shaft) almost gets himself and the others killed by making forays into the maze that are forbidden by the law of this makeshift society.
Eventually it becomes clear - big surprise! - that they are all just an experiment to train youth immune to a deadly virus to survive in the post-apocalyptic outside world, which supposedly will make the monsters in the maze look harmless.
The ensemble cast does a good job at acting their way through a surprisingly linear plot, considering it takes place in a labyrinth. Our hero has as his foil a leader who wants to keep the status quo. The semi-mechanical monsters that stalk them are well executed. The maze may remind many of us of "labyrinth nightmares" we had as kids. The final explanation is a bit hokey, and features one of the most blatant setups for a sequel you are likely to see anytime soon. But then, perhaps the girl in this movie will serve a purpose in the sequel, other than just a girl being in the movie?
I was ready to vote 7 at the beginning of the third act, but then they have the boys' leader, who blames hero Thomas for all the evils of the maze, show up out of nowhere at the end, the typical all-too-expected-unexpected-evil-guy. It really is an unexpected plot hole, as the maze shut itself dramatically after our heroes escaped, and there really is no explanation of how Mr. Leader rejoins the escapees. He does gratuitously kill the "fat boy" (a standard stereotype character in such movies) before they all get rescued and it is revealed that the true evil mastermind (perhaps she tortures our heroes out of necessity) is guiding them towards the sequel.
So a 6 it is; worth a watch, but not a flick to come back to over and over again once its meager secrets have been revealed. It is however well enough acted, art-directed, directed, and scripted (save for that silly ending), that I'll probably check out the sequel. Kind of like the Star Wars prequels: not great, but good enough to make you curious what they are going to come up with next time. In the meantime, go see the 1963 "Lord of the Flies" if you want to see a good film about savage makeshift youth societies, or "Cube" if you want to see a good film about a relentless labyrinth out to get you.