The Maze Runner (2014) was directed by Wes Ball, and based on a book by the same name written by James Dashner in 2009. Dashner claimed in multiple interviews that he had a lot of input on the film, saying "I consulted on the script, I was on the set, I got to know everyone really well", and that Ball had almost immediately emailed him asking for "a list of things that [Dashner's] fans would hate [Ball] for if changed" [1][3]. Because of Dashner's input on the film, we can assume that the intent of the book and and movie are the same.

The primary intent of the film and the book was with respect to society, rather than computing. Dashner claimed that his inspiration for the book came from the books Ender's Game and Lord of the Flies, and Wes Ball said that he envisioned that film as "Lord of the Flies meets Lost, trapped in a world of monsters" [2][3]. However, Dashner contrasted it with Lord of the Flies in that he felt the characters' reactions were unrealistic, saying "I think a group of boys would act differently than how they did in Lord of the Flies: Instead of killing each other and being animalistic, they would form a brotherhood and do whatever it took to protect each other" [4]. Dashner wanted the book and film to be about how the Gladers, when isolated from society, created a community to support themselves [2]. He emphasizes that this is one of the primary intents of the books and films when he said that "The Maze Runner, while at its heart is mainly an adventure story, it's also about hope and the human spirit" [3].

However, there was also an intent in the book and film regarding computing. This intent is mainly focused on the experiment aspect of the film, and the role of WCKD as a government-like figure that experiments on the characters behind the scenes, using their own advanced technologies to force the Gladers to use more archaic technologies. Regarding the contrast between the types of technologies that the Gladers and WCKD had access to, Dashner said that he envisioned "This giant stone maze [...] and everything felt really archaic, but mixed with advanced technology, kinda this weird dichotomy" [1]. We can also see that Dashner felt that the maze being an experiment was important, as he brings it up in multiple interviews, saying "I wanted these kids, thrown into this experiment" and "I wanted it to be this experimental nature to it" [1][3].

Based on our analyses of the film regarding the chapters of the book, as well as Dashner's comments on the role of WCKD, we think that the intent of the film was to show the lengths humanity will go to in order to save itself, and how desperate times can call for drastic uses of technology. We see WCKD doing what we concluded to be unethical experimentation to try to save billions of lives, as well as the Gladers coming together to form a community instead of turning on each other when forced to survive in the Maze. Dashner and Ball explore whether or not WCKD is a good or evil force, and Dashner's interviews support this, such as when he said "One of the main themes of the entire series is slowly making the reader have empathy for WICKED and understand their desperation" [5]. However, without the context of the entire trilogy, the whole of the intent is not completely clear, as Dashner himself claims that "you really don't truly feel like you understand the purpose of everything until the very end of the third book" [1].

References:

[1] "An Exclusive Interview with ‘The Maze Runner’ Author James Dashner!", The Daily Quirk (2015), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Y3Wny_Zuw0

[2] "James Dashner discusses The Maze Runner", Random House Kids (2009), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHW0L5BctK4

[3] "Navigating The Maze: The Making of The Maze Runner", 20th Century Fox (2014), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDasst-n00Q

[4] Tejeda, Valerie, "The Maze Runner Author Interview", Teen Vogue (September 2014), https://www.teenvogue.com/story/the-maze-runner-james-dashner-interview

[5] "Interview with James Dashner", Goodreads (September 2016), https://www.goodreads.com/interviews/show/1172.James_Dashner