Great Movie Adaptation of a Book - Sophisticated with YA Actors

Rating: 9/10 (2 January 2015)

This is the first movie I've seen that is completely comprised of young adult actors that hasn't catered specifically to young adults. Any kind of romantic element was conspicuously absent, as it was in the book, and the actors were not all stereotypical hot models that would have probably brought in a much wider young adult female audience. From what I could tell, the directors really wanted to keep this as close to the original story as possible, and everything from the CGI'd maze, to the glade, to the actor portrayals showed that they really cared about making this gritty, and enjoyable to watch. Other young adult movie adaptations of books have been very heavy handed with the romance between the boy and girl, and have dumbed-down both the language and context to give children something to enjoy. This was refreshingly different! This was a REAL movie that to me was the same caliber as any great blockbuster to come out this year. Please keep doing what you're doing! I went into this movie with low expectations and now can't wait to see the sequel!