THE MAZE RUNNER

I saw THE MAZE RUNNER last weekend! This film is the movie version of the James Dashner novel of the same name. The film tells the story of Thomas, a teenage boy who one day finds himself locked in a mysterious glade positioned in the center of an even more mysterious miles long maze with a group of similarly positioned young teens. Together the boys attempt to unlock the secrets of the maze and hopefully find a way out.

I walked into this movie fully expecting to see more WB grade teen angst and melodrama and instead I ended up having to look for my socks in the 18th row. Everything about this movie just flat out rules. It grabs you in the first 10 seconds of the credits and it straight up doesn't let you go for a moment. The story is taught with intrigue and the grand mystery that is the maze, kept my mind thoroughly engaged, racing filled with questions. It had me biting my nails, always wondering what was going to happen next and by the end I was more than ready for more. All of this comes courtesy of (believe it or not) rookie feature film director Wes Ball and sensational acting by leads Dylan O'Brien and Aml Ameen who are oozing with some serious Tom Cruise/Denzel Washington/Jeff Bridges grade charisma throughout this movie. Unfortunately they are so good that it kinda brings out the flaws in some of the other less experienced actors here but on the whole, O'Brien and Ameen are just so damn good that they more than make up for it.

Seriously check it out if you can. What The Hunger Games did for girls, this movie will do for boys. You won't be disappointed in the slightest. The Maze Runner makes it from start to finish with a 4.5...out of 5.