Talented actors guide The Maze Runner to success [Review]
You wake up in a cage, in a lift hurtling upwards. You can't remember who you are, and don't know how you got there, or what's waiting for you when you reach the top.
That's the situation our hero Thomas (Dylan O'Brien) finds himself in. When the lift doors open, he finds himself in a lush glade populated with other teenaged boys, each of whom got there the same way.
Under the leadership of Alby (Aml Ameen), the first boy to arrive, they've built a harmonious society, where everyone pitches in and no one leaves. They can't: the Glade is surrounded by a 10-storey concrete wall.
Every morning, a gate opens to a maze, and if you can't find your way back by sundown, well, that's when terrifying beings known as Grievers get you. It's the Runners who take this challenge, sprinting out at dawn and mapping as much of the maze as they can before sunset.
Then a girl arrives.
The film's forte is its ensemble cast, mainly a slew of talented young male eye candy worthy of posters in any teenage girl's bedroom.
The Maze Runner has an interesting set-up, but lacks the depth of the classic Lord of the Flies. Ultimately it's simple enough for seven-year-olds, spiced up with enough sci-fi scares to keep teens happy.