Fun movie, good mystery, though a weak payoff

Rating: 6/10 (27 September 2014)

The Maze Runner opens with an unknown panicked boy, awaking in a dark, steel elevator, ascending into the unknown. The doors open to a grassy plane - The Glade - where he is surrounded by a group of mocking boys. We soon learn that they remember nothing of their past lives, except that they are all trapped here, surrounded by a gigantic labyrinth which they must navigate to (hopefully) find freedom. It's certainly an intriguing plot.
Having never read the book, I didn't really know what to expect. And to that end, the mystery kept me interested throughout. However, I can't say that I felt much for any of the characters. Perhaps those who have read the book will feel differently, but there just didn't seem to be much depth to them. Even the lone girl in the movie seemed to be mostly a useless character, adding very little to the plot.
I'd heard many compare it to The Hunger Games, which definitely shares many of the same elements. Both are fun movies, but the main fault of The Maze Runner is with the payoff at the end. Why are these boys trapped? By whom? You'll get answers, for sure, but I felt like they didn't make a whole lot of sense.