In The Maze Runner, random kids are taken and put into a place called the Glade.  The come in an elevator with crates of supplies, each month loosing all memory, except for their name.  They know little about anything about their situation, except a few facts.  They have begun to figure out how to survive there, giving different people a variety of tasks.  One of the most important jobs is being a “runner”.  Surrounding the Glade is a huge maze, which has thus far, kept everyone from leaving this scary place.  The runner’s jobs are to run the course of the changing maze, and try to find a way out; however it seems they have made little leeway in finding anyway out.  This is the case until a boy named Thomas arrives in the Glade.

Everything that has been a constant since, the first boy, Alby showed up, starts to change, with the arrival of Thomas.  His arrival somehow changed everything they thought they knew about this place.  A girl showed up, not on schedule to begin with.  She seemed to know him, which has also never happened thus far.  Creatures that only attack at night, started to attack people in broad daylight.  When their leader, Alby is trapped in the maze because he is injured, Thomas breaks the rules and goes in after him.  He goes in even knowing that no one who stayed the night in the maze has ever come out alive.  However, in the maze he kills one of these creatures, and comes out alive.  People in the Glades have at this point identified him either as a threat, or a hero, who might be their only hope at getting out of this terrible cage.  I watched this movie because the plot was so interesting.  This could be the reality I live in and I might not even realize it.  People could be manipulating me for an experiment for all I know, and it’s a scary thought, but this movie makes it seem as if it could really happen. 

The enemies Thomas has made in his short time of residing in the Glade, consist of Gally, and his followers.  They hate Thomas because he brings change.  They are content with their way of life now because they are scared of change and risking their lives to get out of there. Gally is portrayed as the tough guy and he is physically, strong.  However, he only wants to stick with what he has come to learn about the Glade.  It was familiar-therefore comfortable and safe.  On the other hand, people, like Minho a friend he has found in this place, have witnessed his courage and bravery firsthand.  They see the change he is bringing and instead of shying away from it, they follow him, in hopes of finding their way home.  In the short time he has been there, he rose in the ranks of this society, being a runner, and a leader among a majority.  Thomas and his followers, realize that although change is scary, it is necessity to get out. 

People’s loyalties are tested, on the day they exit the maze for good.  This to me is the strongest aspect of the movie.  Although much of it show flaws in humanity, this part, illustrates that people can be have faith, and loyalty, if it is earned.  They have to take a leap of faith and follow him into the maze.  People gave their lives, fighting the creatures to protect Thomas, and it goes to show how he affected these people.  He gave them something to believe in again after being trapped.  Unfortunately, when they find their way out of the maze, they have been made of the sad reality.  They thought they would be coming home to their families, who missed them dearly.  However, they came back to a world, where the human race was almost extinct.  They were part of a cruel, but necessary experiment to keep the uninfected children in a place almost void of all the infection and grief the real world faced.

In the end, they think they have finally been freed from this terrible experiment at least, even though they did not return to the world they expected.  They instead are still part of the experiment and are only moving onto face two even if they are unaware.  This movie, I thought was one of my all time favorites, because having read the New York Times Bestselling book too, I thought it was still great.  Usually when reading a book before watching a movie, I lower my expectations, thinking it will not be nearly as good; however I enjoyed the movie more than the book. It is filled with action and tests of loyalty.  The only criticism I have is that only about a half of the book was made into the movie.  I would recommend this movie to anyone, whether you have read the book or not.