Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015) Review!!!

Synopsis – 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.

My Take – About a year ago, the first film ‘The Maze Runner‘ was released in theaters all over, & according to me (a guy who is not into YA novels), the film came out of no where, ending up with a global haul of $340 million worldwide against a modest $32 million budget. I personally thought that the action sequences within the maze scenes were all quite exciting and very entertaining to watch. However, after all the excellent suspense and tension built up in the first two- thirds of the film, at the end nothing really gets explained clearly. Yet, the film hit the right notes with both critics and general audiences a like, so naturally the studio quickly moved onto the next chapter of the Maze Runner story, with most of the principal cast returning as well as a few new additions. And naturally, this sequel seeks to build upon the groundwork of The Maze Runner and expand the world established, whilst also upping the ante. Luckily, if you found the first movie to be a surprisingly entertaining, solid action flick;or if you don’t mind the age of the main characters as long as the story delivers, there’s plenty to like here. Specially because there are some improvements over the flaws of the first film. Oh & by the way did I mention that I freaking loved this movie. I think that out of all of the movies based on a young adult novel that has came out, this sequel stands out as one of my favorites! Director Wes Ball has certainly grown up on how to film and construct some excellent action sequences that were highly suspenseful and kept the adrenaline flowing like vicious rapids in those 131 minute run time. There was no more maze in this movie anymore for the characters to run through. However, I think the maze is an ironic symbol for the viewer who has to try to absorb this whole labyrinthine dystopian world that James Dashner hatched in his novels. Director Wes Ball does his best to make the complex plot engaging, exciting and entertaining with some pretty well-executed action scenes, in comparison to the first “Maze Runner“, this sequel was a more satisfying experience for me. The story follows Thomas (Dylan O’Brien) & his fellow Gladers – Newt (Thomas Brodie Sanger), Minho (Ki Hong Lee), and Teresa (Kaya Scodelario), right after where the last film left off. After being picked up by a military team and brought to a safe haven (or so it seems) where they meet other kids their age from other various other mazes. However, something isn’t right here as a fellow survivor, Aris (Jacob Lofland) tells Thomas this place has a sinister motive and that they need to escape. Sure enough, some diabolical things are happening here as Thomas and his crew along with some newcomers manage to escape into the “Scorch”, which is desert wasteland of what was once Earth. From here, Thomas and his friends come across gangsters, infected zombies, and resistance fighters to try and destroy W.C.K.D. (or as the kids pronounce as “wicked”), which is still led by Ava (Patricia Clarkson) and her right hand man Janson (Aidan Gillen).

Not only do Thomas and his friends have to escape from the evil forces of W.C.K.D., but they have to avoid these infected people who are a mash-up between the zombies in ‘28 Days Later‘ and the infected in ‘I Am Legend‘. For people who have no idea about the sequel or haven’t read the novel, director Wes Ball has more or less switched genres on us with this sequel and made this more of a straight horror movie than anything else. The excitement builds up strongly in the first act. However the second act slows down, well of course the emotional build up was necessary. It was hard to believe the film was still a PG13 from the moment the Cranks (or Zombies) start showing up, who I must say were effectively creepy. A protracted hallucinatory party scene seemed quite head-scratching. The third act though hikes up the explosive climactic action and revives anticipatory audience excitement for the next installment. This film has everything from sandstorms and lightning to Zombies and evil henchman. Its as though the writer / director said lets throw everything into the story that we can and see what sticks, and luckily for them – it worked! The sets are quite outstanding. The scorched Earth is something I would love to see again. The production design of elaborate setup of the W.C.K.D laboratory and the ruins of the huge city looked very good. The journey of this film covers a broad range of sprawling and gorgeous locations; from beautiful but ravaged cities to huge stretches of desert and mountain landscapes, the production design of this movie is incredible and truly breathtaking. The visual effects are great and we are treated to some truly special action set pieces throughout the narrative. The film is beautifully shot, some shaky cam action scenes aside, with a great score that really adds to the tense and eerie atmosphere of the movie. The VFX is extremely well executed. I thought the director was going to get overboard with the CGI usage but he wisely balanced the visual effects with the emotional arc to take the audience to a journey through this devastated lands in which under each nook, each skeleton building lies a new danger, a new story, a new world which I’d love to explore. You do start wondering though – if all these giant mazes are apparently around the place, with green pastures inside. Why would anyone live in the desert when they can live quite happily inside the maze? The performances lead by young lad Dylan O’Brien and his young co-stars, Ki Hong Lee, Kaya Scodelario, Rosa Salazar and Thomas Brodie Sangter are really strong. Dylan O’Brien continues his good portrayal of the ever-doubting Thomas. In this film, his character would need to make a lot of difficult decisions and O’Brien convinces us that he can make those hard choices. Even the supporting cast of Barry Pepper, Alan Tudik, Aidan Gillen, Lily Taylor, Patricia Clarkson and particularly Giancarlo Esposito seemed to be giving it all for their respective roles. They have an amazing chemistry with the very talented young cast and they seem to be screaming “100% commitment to my role”.

It became clear to me through their committed performances that they believed in the project and that they trust the director Wes Ball. There’s plenty of character development opportunities and these mature actors take advantage of them all even if their screen time is limited. Ava Paige as played by Patricia Clarkson started the movie as the archetypal “evil scientist” and by the end of the movie I was somehow rooting for her. She really needs to find a cure to this mysterious disease called “the flare”. Giancarlo Esposito started limited by a role that seemed at first written to fulfill a quota of the typical “evil adult vs. innocent kid” trope. However, as the movie moves on we discover that he is far from being a cartnoonish “evil adult” and that his character is full of humanity. A scene in which he is concerned over his protege was one of my favorites of a film from which I was only expecting mindless entertainment and non-stopping action. Taking a moment to catch a breath from all of the athletic activity, this film does have one underlying theme that is worth pondering. Thomas and the others must risk their own lives to save the remnant of society. Yet, with their best intentions, they are caught in the cross-fire of forces that seem to be attempting the same goal, saving the lives of the world’s population. In trying to save the earth, is the fate of society worth the sacrifice of a a few? Throughout the film, the lines are blurred in answering the question of the sanctity of life. It is not an easy answer, but does beg the questions the value of life and to what lengths must we go to preserve others lives? Director Wes Ball has managed to deliver a fresh spin on the disquieting young-adult genre with his first installment and developed an intriguing cinematic puzzle, & its a rare thing to see relatively new director to up his game with this sophomore venture. Some people may call this a rehash of The Hunger Games & World War Z, but director Wes Ball manages to spin a beautiful web around this heart pounding action flick, which sure to suck you in. On the whole, ‘Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials‘ is an intense ride from start to finish! A great action, sci-fi thriller that serves as an excellent sequel to the first film, despite a few pacing problems here and there with some less than desired dialogue, ‘The Scorch Trials‘ is insanely fun and with it’s signature twist towards the end, as well as a big set up for the third and final film (thank the gods they are not splitting the final movie into two segments), I’m definitely looking forward to the third movie. I’m curious to see if the Blu-ray version will have a rated ‘R’ version of the film, because there are some moments here where things get truly horrific. Definitely worth seeing on the big screen!