(SPOILER WARNING!!! This article does contain spoilers, if you haven’t seen the movie, just see the first paragraph to be informed without spoilers!!!)

The Maze Runner is an interesting movie that keeps you entertained, but, like most movie trilogies or series, once it hits the climax, the movie abruptly ends with so many questions, I hate it when movies do that. Rating 4 out of 5 Stars

So there is a trend in movies now that are making decent bank at the box office, and that is movies about dystopian futures and people rebelling against a unique government system that is forced down on them. It usually takes about 3 or 4 movies to show the whole story, and that could lead to some lazy writing for an ending. Movies like The Hunger Games, Divergent, Elysium, and The Giver. Each have their own unique twist on their story, but it all has the same silver lining which is a war against the oppressed vs the corrupt. So when I saw the trailer for The Maze Runner, originally I rolled my eyes and said, “Here we go again.” With that said, I was slightly intrigued by a plot line about a maze to find a way out of a so called prison. So I have to see it for myself, and as usual, I hadn’t read the books on it by James Dashner. So I dove right in, and I will start with what I like, to the so so, to what I didn’t like.

What I liked, pretty much the story about the maze and the oasis in the middle called The Glade. The Glade is pretty much a safe haven for all the guys trapped there. They pretty much created a peaceful community with food, water, and shelter. The maze surrounding it leads to a way out, but it is very huge and at dusk it closes and changes. If you’re trapped in the maze, you not only risk of getting crushed by the moving walls, but can be attacked and killed by a spider like monsters called Grievers. So many of the guys just stay at their safe haven trusting their leader Alby, played by Aml Ameen, and that’s how it have been for 3 years. Many of the guys have their roles like builders, gardeners, nurses, but they also have other guys called runners who at daytime run through the maze mapping out whole thing trying to find a way out of the maze. Every month The Glade gets a new person coming up from an elevator called The Box where they have no recollection of their past other than their name and adapt to The Glade community, and here comes the main character named Thomas, played by Dylan O’Brien. What I liked about Thomas is that while everyone is contempt at The Glade following the rules presented by Alby, he is more curious about the maze and eager to find a way out and not be contempt with The Glade society. His curiosity leads him to ask questions about the maze that nobody can answer, and really wants to become a runner. His curiosity leads to tension with another guy who plays the cliched jerk in the movie named Gally, played by Will Poulter (and his crazy eyebrows), and tries to set Thomas straight in adhering to the rules. Thomas also befriends a young guy named Chuck, played by Blake Cooper, who develop a special bond when time goes by. One day, Alby runs into trouble running the maze and not making it before it closes, which makes Thomas break the rule of not going in the maze to save him. He gets stuck inside the maze where nobody survives the night and manages to kill a Griever and survive the night. All this lead to a series of events of actually finding a way out and what the maze is really about. I thought the acting was pretty good, especially O’Brien and Ameen, they showed some real true emotion throughout the movie. A lot of the deaths in the movie showed some true emotion and how The Glade really is a sense of true brotherhood. The one death that really got to me was Chuck’s death, cuz he was the most innocent character in The Glade and really didn’t deserve to die, and shows how it affected Thomas when he passed. I have a feeling that small wooden statue that Chuck will give his parents will play an important role emotionally for Thomas in the future movies. Chuck dying had the same effect emotionally on me like what The Hunger Games did when they killed Rue. I guess killing off innocent kids can take a toll on you, and what human doesn’t? What I like about Gally is that he represents the corrupt system and was contempt to keep it by any means necessary, and shows how emotional obsession can take a real toll on you. Director Wes Ball, really created a great scenery that I’m sure the author wanted. He made the maze look big and dangerous, and to a point intimidating. Not only by sight, but by sound as well, and it made me say, “I’m not messing with that maze.”

The so so, when the normal life in The Glade starting changing for the worse and creating even more tension with Thomas and Gally, it started making me ask a lot of questions on why things are happening that way. In the end when they finally find a way out and realized they were an experiment tested out by W.C.K.D. (pronounced wicked), it didn’t answer all the questions. Instead it have me more, like who is this women named Ava Paige, played by Patricia Clarkson? It left me confused to see if W.C.K.D. Is really good, or bad that forced an army to supposedly kill them? What is Phase II of the test for these escaped guys? What is the real purpose of the girl Teresa, played by Kaya Scodelario, in coming to The Glade, and why she knows Thomas? With all those questions, I understand it will be answered in future movies, so I have to wait. (Which also leads me to what I didn’t like.)

What I didn’t like, I’m freaking tired of movies that ends on a major climax leaving all sorts of questions and then abruptly ends. To me it is lazy writing in not coming up with a proper ending. I blame Lord of the Rings for starting this so called trend. It just irritates me that I have to wait a year to see what happens, and makes me second guess myself on should I even care. I just hate it when they do that, and it needs to stop. PLEASE!!!

Overall, even with the abrupt ending and all the questions, the movie kept my interest in seeing what will happen in the future movies. I guess I have a love/hate relationship with these dystopian fight the system movies, but as long as they continue on making them interesting. I will keep watching even though I feel the lazy writing for endings don’t deserve my money. At least seeing a world destroyed by sun getting hotter will keep me looking forward to it. (Much to my chagrin!!!) Final Rating 4 out of 5 Stars.

(Sidenote- The Other Women: This movie starring Cameron Diaz, Leslie Mann, Kate Upton, and supported acted by none other, Nicky Minaj as women getting back at a guy, Nikoloj Coster-Waldau, for cheating on all three of them. The main three girls devise evil plans to make his life miserable. As a guy, found it annoying how low these women can go, but can’t support infidelity either. Story about girl power was blah for me, and not even Cameron Diaz could save this movie. Kate Upton really didn’t have a purpose in her role other than looking sexy, and Leslie Mann comedic acting was really annoying to me. She got better at the end, but it was too late for her. You know there is a problem where Nicky Minaj acted better than Leslie Mann for most of the movie. Maybe the cheating guy got what he deserves, but no guy should be suckered in to watch this travesty. Rating: 2 out of 5 Stars)

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