It's entertaining. Has some good sequences (particular one with Minho and Thomas are trying to escape the maze in the middle) and the whole mystery of the nature of their situation is intriguing but it's not involving or has interesting characters. The movie looks good for its modest budget though. I guess there was no real intention for character development since all of these people do not remember a thing about their past but I think there needed to be some breathing room as it feels rushed.

It's refreshing that there wasn't really a romantic angle considering this is a YA adapted flick, although I'm sure future installments will explore this

I hope it's good - I loved the book and am very excited for it. Seeing it Saturday at a screening

More than lives up to the book it is based on. This movie is a thrilling, exciting blast and definitely manages to differentiate itself from other recent young-adult adaptations. It's more of a thriller in the vein of "Lost" than a "Hunger Games" type story anyway, and spends a great deal of time building up tension before the eventual payoff. It's very fast-paced and stylish, and the cliffhanger ending definitely leaves you eagerly anticipating the next installment. It's just a good time at the movies.

Also, Dylan O'Brien is great in the lead - I hope he leaves "Teen Wolf" soon as he has a lot of potential. Will Poulter is also a standout. A-

This, surprisingly for me, was a lot of fun. It looks fantastic considering the modest budget on hand and it manages to be tense throughout, with highly well choreographed action set pieces. Dylan O'Brien cements his cinematic heartthrob status. B+

I dug the atmosphere and the constant plot developments. It did remind me a lot of Lost - including the disappointingly weak answers. Still, I enjoyed the ride and even the characters to an extent.

B+

I really don't know how they could make a 2nd film half as interesting without the maze location. Seems like a snooze.

I liked it but... the believably factor is really pushed here, and the fact it's a work of fiction has nothing to do with it. I asked myself, "why or how?", quite a few times during the film because it seems so out there. It just seems so... that this massive intricate maze full of insect-like constructs to study/test the young generation after an apparent global catastrophe. How is this testing helping exactly? I don't know. The Hunger Games and Divergent work a lot better in this respect for me.

However, it's still mostly enjoyable and the atmosphere along with the solid cast performances are certainly strong enough factors to make the film enjoyable and better in various ways compared to most of its YA counterparts. And I am looking forward to what happens next. C+/B-

A solid entry in the teenage science-fiction adventure catalog alongside The Hunger Games and Divergent. The film opens with Thomas (Dylan O'Brien) soaring upward in an enormous industrial elevator. Without memory and out of the blue, he emerges into a glen. There, other people his age in the same predicament lead agrarian lives in the shadow of a vast maze with ever-shifting walls and a population of half-robotic, spider-shaped guards. Thomas' coming coincides with various volatile shifts in their uneasy situation, garnering him the intense resentment of a leader (We're the Millers scene stealer Will Poulter), and it becomes clear the group can no longer avoid entering the dangerous maze and searching together for an exit. The fresh-faced actors acquit themselves well, but the real star of this film is the maze. Simply put, it is an exciting and well-utilized environment in which to set an action and mystery story. A triumph of production design and computer-generated imagery, the maze, a place in which geography is always pliable and in flux, is a creative triumph and recommends this franchise starter, though it may in fact spell trouble for the second film (already scheduled for 2015 and subtitled "Scorch Trials"). It is teased the intrigue in future episodes will switch from the distinctive maze to a generic, Hunger Games-lite corporate dystopia. I am not convinced the characters, however attractive, are riveting enough to compensate.

B

I honestly thought it was just dreadful. It had a decent, if incredibly generic set up but after the set up and Thomas went into the maze for the first time, it just got incredibly dull. None of the characters were at all likable and the acting from everyone was pretty bad. The fat boy deserves a Razzie. He was horrendous. Besides a few bits that were obviously green screen, the effects were decent enough but the direction and the use of shaky cam was awful too. Just a bad, bad movie. Especially when it will obviously be compared to so many movies like it.

D

A big fat MEH for this one. This was neither really good nor really bad.

The Maze Runner

Yet another teens-trying-to-be-mature soap opera, which is full of clichés and unanswered mysteries. It would have been a good concept if it had some substance behind the idea, but the trend of adapting books from bad writers that add teens to ridiculous and perilous situations was too powerful for producers to pass up, so they just keep making this crap. The film never got gripping, but I was mildly interested to see the resolution. Little did I know that the film makers just end the film with a huge 'fuck you' in order to get you to see the next instalment. Well, that strategy won't work on me.

C-

Even if you didn't know it had a source material associated with, this film just fits the formulaic teen apocalypse story to a tee. It does it a bit too much to where what should be intriguing about the film's plot is instead set aside by its typical nature. The performances are fairly meh too.

Really liked this. Far superior to Divergent. And even though I had no idea what the hell was going on at the end, I'm excited for the sequel.

B+

This was a pretty entertaining film. While it started slow, I was thoroughly invested by the story by the time of the big twist I didn't see coming at the end of the film. Excited for The Scorch Trials. Thank goodness this wasn't another Divergent.

B+

I loved how this brings the mystery factor from the start and once Thomas enters the maze its very entertaining. The ending is where is falters a little but its still serviceable enough to watch the sequel. Dylan O'Brien is great in here bringing the much needed heft to Thomas' character. This has a great rewatchable factor as well.

A

Just watched this with the kids and it was surprisingly solid. Entertaining and well executed. The ending leaves you wanting more.

B