Starring Dylan O’Brien, Will Poulter, and Kaya Scodelario, The Maze Runner premiered on September 19th. The Scorch Trials, the second book of the Maze Runner trilogy, is currently in pre-production by the same director, Wes Ball. According to IMDb, Ball has directed a few short films, including Ruin, A Work in Progress, and Jacob: The Movie. He has been involved with movies in many different ways such as writing, directing, editing, and more. James Dashner is the writer of The Maze Runner novel; he also wrote the Infinity Ring Series, the 13th Reality Series, and many more. Although Dashner did not write the screenplay, James appeared in the movie as a Lab Tech, according to IMDb.

The Maze Runner, which originally started as a trilogy, tells the story of a boy named Thomas. As the movie opens, Thomas is in an elevator, and a very crude one at that. He arrives at the top of the elevator and is stared down at by many boys. He has no idea who he is or where he came from; his memory was erased. As Thomas settles in at the Glade, the place where he is brought to, he learns more about where he is and who he is with. The story unfolds as he gains knowledge on the giant cement walls circling the Glade.

Personally, I thought the movie was a bit boring. While the idea for the novel and the movie was a good one, the storyline and filming could have been done better. I started the book in spring of last year, but soon became disinterested and stopped at about 30 pages. It is very similar to novels like The Hunger Games and Divergent. Although I loved both The Hunger Games and Divergent, it’s not a story that should be told time and time again with a little twist. Caroline Bursler, a freshman at Padua, agreed that she didn’t like the movie. “I expected the movie to be better. It was a bit of a let down,” she shared. I would recommend seeing the movie if you read and enjoyed the book, but if you did neither, you shouldn’t go out of your way to see it.