You know in the advertisements for this film, the title was supposedly “Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials”, but when you see the movie and the title comes up in the beginning, all it says is “The Scorch Trials”. I mean there is nothing wrong with that, but when that happened all I could think in my mind was “bruh!”
Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials is directed by Wes Ball and stars Dylan O’ Brian, Ki Hong Lee, Kaya Scodelario, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Dexter Darden, Rosa Salazar, Giancarlo Esposito, Aidan Gillen, and Patricia Clarkson. It is the continuation of the first film entitled “The Maze Runner” based on the series of books by James Dashner.
I was probably the only person that almost put the first Maze Runner on my worst films of last year. The movie was very strong throughout until the last 20 minutes of it go flying off the rails with this stupid and unoriginal twist that they throw in there, and I was extremely upset after it. It did not make my list because it wasn’t really bad enough for me to put on there. However, I was really shocked at how fast this sequel came out. It seems the only movies that get pushed so fast is the “Young Adult Franchise”, or what I like to call the “Y.A.F.” Yes that is what I like to call it. Because ever since The Hunger Games films came out, we have been getting like maybe two or three of these each year.
So going into this, I was just not expecting for this film to be good. However, I am surprised to tell you that Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials is half decent and is way better than its predecessor. Sadly, that is not saying much.
I will say this, what makes this movie work is its filmmaking. Director Wes Ball (who directed the first film) really gets down and dirty on the action and stunt work. Even though there’s some handheld camera usage here and there, it is never excessive. Also, for a film with under a 60 million dollar budget, the film has a lot of impressive visual effects and production value. Dylan O’ Brian is once again fantastic in the lead role of Thomas.
What made the first film at least noteworthy was O’ Brian’s performance. A lot of the action really gave me goosebumps, and I will give the film that. The first half of this movie was really strong, and I was going to give this at least a marginal B until the second half of the movie kicked in and it decided to just slip on a banana peel on purpose. Not literally but metaphorically speaking!
We are introduced to new characters that join up with the team of the maze runners or when you are introduce to this new gang of survivors called “The Red Arm”. I can tell you this, I barely gave two sh*ts about them. The film lacks character development to the point where I did not know who was who! The real big issue with this film is that it is just a copycat of other young adult clichéd blockbusters out there. We are set in a futuristic world where we are at war, there is a love triangle that is just thrown in there, and the villain just stands around with fancy clothing and makes evil decisions. Hell! The villain’s force has air ships that look like the ships from The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part One.
I am tired of Hollywood studios thinking that most audiences need some sort of formula with every young adult film ever! Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials has great action, fantastic production value, and has a great performance from Dylan O’ Brian. However, what this film lacks is characters depth.
Overall Grade: C
Guys what did you think of Maze Runner: The Scorch Trails? What is your favorite Young adult film out there? Are you a fan of the books? Reply back and start the conversation! I will reply back as soon as possible! Thanks for reading this review guys and hope to see on the next one!
,Digi [ 😉 ]
Raging Nerds 