Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials Review

Explosions, danger, and disease are the ingredients for a perfect dystopian movie. Thankfully, The Scorch Trials gives us all three.

In the movie, The Scorch Trials (2015) directed by Wes Ball, the main character Thomas, played by Dylan O’Brien, and his friends are outside of the maze, established in the first movie, The Maze Runner. There, they find themselves in a whole new world.

Scorch Trials starts exactly where Maze Runner ends. The group gets off of the helicopter they left the maze from and find themselves with a suspicious corporation, where they are told that they are safe and finally out of harms way. When they discover what this corporation is really concocting, they learn that the only way to escape also puts them at the edge of death. Outside of the corporation, Thomas and his friends find themselves in a world consisting of dangerous thunderstorms, dry desserts, and a world that has crumbled under a disease called “The Flare”. The group encounters many people who have been stricken by this disease. Unfortunately, they don’t find hospitals filled with diseased people. Instead, they find dangerous zombie-like creatures called “cranks”.

 

Dylan O’Brien, a regular actor on TV with a couple of movies, continues to impress viewers with his acting skills. Kaya Scodelaria, who plays Theresa, was a stellar part, causing the audience to watch more of her movies because of the way her acting affected viewers, unlike the way the character affected readers in the books. Also, new, interesting characters were brought into the movie such as, the determined Brenda (Rosa Salazar) and the quiet Aris (Jacob Lofland). However the original ones, who everyone has grown to love, overshadow these new characters.

 

The movie is described to be a young-adult, dystopian, sci-fi. But as viewers watched it, they found it to have elements of drama and action. One scene that really sticks is when Brenda and Thomas are separated from the group and end up being chased by cranks. The escape leaves the viewer with a pounding heart, a credit to the director. Another scene that caught my attention was the scene that wasn’t in the book. In this scene, a creative explosion will probably leave fellow readers in awe of what could’ve improved the book if it had been there. The cinematography is also good. For example, a loss of a friend is a hauntingly beautiful scene set with a colorful sunset and a vast desert.

 

If you’ve read the original trilogy by James Dashner, but haven’t watched the movies yet, you will be pleasantly surprised. The movies are a refreshing change from the books. Usually when a movie is completely different than book, it’s typically not as good as the book, but these movies are excellent.

 

The last scene of the movie ends with a hint for an action-packed continuation of the story. The third movie, “The Death Cure”, is set to come out in 2017. Hopes are that it will be as good as the first and second movie.