Thomas wakes up in a strange place surrounded by unscalable walls. There he finds a group of other teens who have been mysteriously brought to this outdoor compound, where they’ve set up a camp and laid down rules for survival. The most important: never go into the giant maze that surrounds them, at the risk of getting stuck inside at the mercy of the bloodthirsty creatures that inhabit it. Deciding to break the rules, Thomas goes in search of the solution to the mystery that has them all caught in this nightmare…

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A comparison with The Hunger Games and Divergent is obvious, but unnecessary for judging the quality of this umpteenth production made in hopes of generating yet another lucrative franchise. Adapted from the first installment of James Dashner’s series of the same name, The Maze Runner mixes the usual ingredients of the genre together without any real imagination or finesse: a post-apocalyptic landscape ruled by a fascist regime and a micro-society still in puberty, fueling the indispensable romance. Wes Ball’s debut starts off well with a strong entrance by the panicked main character and no explanation for his circumstances, nicely setting up the nightmare to come. What follows is less spectacular, with incoherent dialogue, superficial secondary characters and a flat rhythm. The maze in question, at first menacing behind its great walls, slowly turns into a B-movie prop rife with ugly beasts and a badly managed emotional arc, thanks to very bland direction. What’s left is the meager promise of a better and perhaps more spectacular sequel somewhere down the line.