Review of The Maze Runner (2014) by Craig F — 11 Dec 2015

I liked it far better than I did the first Hunger Games film despite an array of flaws and some glaring similarities, but The Maze Runner introduces enough new creative situations to the genre to remain entertaining.

I found the characters rather plain and difficult to empathize with despite strong acting from O'Brien, but not having read the books may be a part of it. Scodelario's poor acting on the other hand stood out in a seemingly needless role.

I was hoping for a bit of a more unique introduction to what I hoped would be a female tribe. In addition the Maze itself lacks enough intimidating grandeur leading to an unimpressive climax to the film which ends up posing more questions by the end than the beginning ever had.

Overall, though it is entertaining enough, it feels like only the first part rather than a standalone film but the world building and direction make this well worth the watch.