The Maze Runner

As director Wes Ball builds the eeriness around the complex entrapment of a community of boys living a Lord Of The Flies type existence, he is ably aided by imaginative and well-executed production design and special effects.

Generally redeemed by feature first-timer Wes Ball's forthright action sequences.

Whither post-apocalyptic young adult sci-fi? With two movies to go, Hunger Games already feels overly familiar.

Trying desperately to focus on the themes of free will, responsibility and death (several major characters have a gruesome fate), all I could think about was cheap vodka.

In the annals of dystopian young-adult franchises, The Maze Runner is less than totes amazeballs.

Yet more celibate chiselled hotties in some ritualised game-playing future world, who discover that they are in some super-special way different, or divergent, or exceptional.

The Maze Runner was much better than expected...

...benefits strongly from O’Brien’s charismatic performance and a smattering of above-average action sequences...

A clearly told, broadly appealing, nicely creepy science fiction thriller.

Despite strong performances and a fascinating setup, it feels like a typical episode of Lost in which more questions are asked instead of answered—except here, there's no promise of a new episode next week.