Director: Wes Ball
Writers: T.S. Nowlin (screenplay by), James Dashner (based upon the novel “The Scorch Trials” by)
Stars: Dylan O’Brien, Kaya Scodelario, Thomas Brodie-Sangster
Plot: After having escaped the Maze, the Gladers now face a new set of challenges on the open roads of a desolate landscape filled with unimaginable obstacles.
Running Time: 2 hours 12 Minutes
Rotten Tomatoes Score: Critics 46% Audience 54%
Why I Watched It: I liked the first one for the most part and the cast got even better by adding some veteran character actors.
Thoughts: You have to give The Maze Runner some credit it’s surviving while it’s genre is dying, the YA Novels to movies have taken a blow but Maze Runner in the middle of their franchise keeps going. I think it’s because of the action and the fact they’ve had the same director that helps.
What I liked: The coolest part of Scorch Trials is it’s completely different, we’re done with the maze and now we’re dealing with the whole virus and the evil corporation and also trying to figure out what was going on and why they were in the maze in the first place. The selling point of this film is that the cast is joined by adult actors and some good ones, Aiden Gillen comes in of course as bad guy and he’s good here, also we get Pepper, Taylor and Esposito thrown into the mix to help our heroes. The stakes are bigger here and so is the scope. The selling point of this series so far is the action sequences and here we get a couple of thrilling and really well shot and down action spots.
Dylan O’Brien is the standout here, i thought he was a bit bland in the first one but here he does take over the leading man/boy role and he’s got range and I do think this is an actor to keep your eye on. He’s the heart of these films and he carries it pretty well. I also like Kaya Scodelario, in the first one she was the only female but here she gets to do a bit more and I do find she has charisma and she also could be on to bigger things. What I liked about this film is not only do we find out more, the characters are fleshed out more and some of the questions we had in the first one are answered, some more than others but the main conflict is now set up.
What I Didn’t Like: It’s another long movie, I do think the beginning drags, the set up could have been done quicker and we could have gotten more into the story. Honestly the first half is too much talk, exposition and not enough action. I think the story would have been tighten if they got 15-20 minutes, cause the third act is what’s important and oddly that seems rushed to get us to the cliffhanger.
Now the main thing going against this movie is the fact that it’s the second of three films so we know we’re not getting the big finish, we’re getting build up and to it’s credit it does it pretty well but yes it does fell incomplete.
Final Thoughts: I liked it. it had some great action and it opened up it’s story more and gave us more adult characters to blend with the young cast.
Rating: 6/10
Movie Burner Entertainment 