Directed by : Wes Ball
Written by : T.S. Nowlin
Starring : Dylan O'Brien, Ki Hong Lee, Kaya Scodelario, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Aidan Gillen, Rosa Salazar, Giancarlo Esposito,
Release Date : September 9, 2015
First off I have to say that I wasn't that huge a fan of the first installment of this Maze Runner franchise, despite the fact it did have some refreshing ideas for the young adult dystopian future style of story telling. "The Scorch Trials" on the other hand decided to double down on action sequences, and in keeping viewers in the dark of what's going on. Unfortunately that direction caused me to feel very underwhelmed with this movie.
I could have just simply enjoyed this as an action-adventure movie, but I thought the action sequences were rather uninspired, and the adventuring aspects were just lackluster. Coincidences, close calls, and lots and lots of chase sequences seems to be the modus operandi of this movie, and it's too bad that all that wasn't exciting enough for me. The film does have great visuals showcasing the post-apocalyptic settings though, but that isn't enough to make up for the shortcomings.
There are several huge problems for me with the story. There is a lack of any interesting character development here, which only makes the characters highly uninteresting, and me caring even less on what happens to them. Giancarlo Esposito and Aiden Gillen does admirable work in giving their characters some life though. I'm also fed up with how the story teases secrets that still need to be revealed, and how it goes through very contrived reasons on why nobody is giving out the important revelations. At one point, a character claims to get their memories back and have vital information, but nobody makes an effort to find out what those are? Seriously?!
Book readers will likely be sorely disappointed in how "Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials" is primarily a much different story than what they read. It'll test their patience at how unfaithful it is to the source material. For us movie viewers, it'll just test our patience for how mediocre it is.
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