An ultimately hollow experience, which seems to solely serve as a conveyor for future entries in the series

Rating: 5/10 (1 December 2014)

The Maze Runner' is the latest studio adaptation of a teen novel turned epic movie series. The film begins with Thomas, waking up in a foreign zone known as the 'Glade'. The Glade is a zone governed by a bunch of young men, entombed within a maze full of deadly, spider- like creatures known as 'Grievers'. Thomas struggles to remember who he is, or how he got there – apparently a common situation for the young men whom find themselves trapped within this mysterious zone. The 'Lord of the Flies-esque' colony of kids have learned to live within the confines of the zone over the past three years, living off the fat of the land and entering the maze when necessary. However, shortly after Thomas' arrival, things begin to change for the young men. Thomas enters the maze in a bid to save the leader of the group, Alby, and unlike others had, he survives the night, killing a griever in the process. Shortly after, a key is discovered in the carcass of the griever and a plan to escape the maze is set in motion.
Boasting a cast primarily made up of teens, there will generally always be a few weak links, especially from the younger more inexperienced actors. Though on the whole, Director Wes Ball struggles to create anything more than one-dimensional, cardboard thin characters. The ham-fisted scenes where the audience are almost told to be moved are almost laughable. We are told to care, but we don't. In saying this, there were a few stand-out performances; Will Poulter as the huffy Gally, Ki Hong Lee as Minho, though Dylan O'Brian's portrayal of Thomas takes the cake. We are able to feel the character's confusion and frustration throughout the film, which can perhaps be seen as an allegory for the viewer and what they're experiencing. Bravo Ball?
The pacing is one of the biggest flaws in the film. It plods and meanders for a larger portion of the film. A couple of encounters with the spider-like 'Grievers' within the maze create a small amount of on screen action to give you a break during the long down times, otherwise people sit around and talk, Gally huffs and puffs or questions are posed. Then just as the film begins to take off in the third act, it ends on a cliffhanger. There is no payoff to this near two-hour ride. Just a big 'see you next time if you want to find out what everything actually means'.
The Maze Runner is nothing we haven't seen before; a straight forward, saccharine Hollywood tale that hits all the right beats and twists and turns. It's safe, it's dry and it's clunky; and when combined with its cliffhanger ending solely designed to allow for further installments down the road (which given the film earned over 100 million domestically off of its minuscule budget, we will almost certainly be seeing further installments), the film poses more questions than it answers. While it's always good to bow out and leave your audience wanting more, leaving them hanging is not, especially when everything had been riding on the climax.
The Maze Runner may be an average rent, or great Netflix watch. If you're a patient person (and somewhat interested in the film), I would go as far to say that you should wait until the inevitable sequel is released before you watch it, otherwise, like me, you might find yourself aggrieved at the lack of answers and the somewhat lackluster experience.
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