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Watching "The Maze Runner," the movie adaptation of Utah author James Dashner's dystopian young-adult novel, will make audiences feel like rats in a maze: sometimes energized, often disoriented and ultimately frustrated that the cheese at the end is so small.

Appropriately, the audience is thrown into the story the same way its teen protagonist (Dylan O'Brien) is: confused and clueless as to what's happening. He wakes up in an elevator rising toward a large grassy area, with no memory of who he is or how he got there. He's greeted by 30 or 40 teen boys, all of whom went through the same thing.

The teen, who eventually remembers his name — Thomas — is given the tour by the group's leader, Alby (Aml Ameen). The place is The Glade, where the boys have built a rough society for themselves, aided by monthly supply deliveries from the elevator that brought Thomas. Outside the walls of The Glade is The Maze, a massive series of moving walls populated by nasty monsters called Grievers. The gates to The Maze close every evening, and no one, Alby tells Thomas, has ever survived a night in The Maze.

Thomas is different, eager to challenge the status quo and test The Maze. This gains him allies, including Alby's second-in-command, Newt (Thomas Brodie-Sangster), but rankles the rule-observant tough kid, Gally (Will Poulter). Things get even more complicated when the elevator delivers one more teen: a girl, Teresa (Kaya Scodelario), who recognizes Thomas.

Dashner's story — adapted by three writers in a tag-teamed script — moves along at a good clip and is quite involving as Thomas starts figuring out life in The Glade and the secrets of The Maze. The plot doesn't make a lot of sense upon follow-up examination, but in the moment it's exciting.

Rookie director Wes Ball, an animator and visual-effects guy, neatly devises The Maze's forbidding vibe and the scary look of the Grievers. Alas, he junks up that look with stomach-churning handheld camera work that detracts more than it reveals.

Even so, "The Maze Runner" keeps the audience engaged, right up to the aggravating finish. That's when the movie pull the rug out from under everyone, denying the characters a satisfactory resolution with an information dump of exposition. The ending abruptly reminds viewers that Dashner has written three more books in this series — and if you want the whole story, you'll have to wait for the next movie to be made. Or go read the books. —

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'The Maze Runner'

An intriguing premise — teens trapped in a self-made society within a deadly maze — turns into a teaser for an action franchise yet to be made.

Where • Theaters everywhere.

When • Opens Friday, Sept. 19.

Rating • PG-13 for thematic elements and intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action, including some disturbing images.

Running time • 113 minutes.