Movie Roundup: Maze Runner: Scorch Trials

Movie Roundup: Maze Runner: Scorch Trials: Shortly after escaping the deadly maze, Thomas (Dylan O'Brien), Teresa (Kaya Scodelario), Newt (Thomas Brodie-Sangster) and the rest of the Gladers are forced to go on the run into the unending desert, The Scorch in order to find new allies to help them escape from the ruthless WCKD corporation.

Largely abandoning the cold empty desaturated dystopia that established in the first film, Scorch Trials instead goes for a Mad Max style in it's world expansion of the world of Maze Runner along with some World War Z influences in the design of the zombies, even if they do feel out of place in this type of genre.

Unfortunately, although the Gladers themselves are still interesting characters in their own right, and several new faces such as Giancarlo Esposito's Jorge and Alan Tudyk's Marcus are entertaining as hell to watch, both Dylan O'Brien and Kaya Scodelario are still incredibly dull characters despite the numerous twists and turns with the latter.

Overall, Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials does offer a higher entertainment value than it's predecessor, but it doesn't really improve on that film's other flaws either...

In the realm of book adaptation for teenagers on the big screen, The Maze Runner (2014) stood out for its particular mystery. Much of the interest was to accompany the characters in the discovery of an eventual exit of the labyrinth, something that ends up obtaining at the end of the third act. Still, with many open questions, The Scorch Trials comes to show more than this dystopian world, created by James Dashner, has to offer, with the cast of survivors of its predecessor to return to their roles.

The helicopter carrying them in the first film takes our heroes to a highly secure fort. Those who wait are Jason (Aidan Gillen), the base operations supervisor, who promises to protect Thomas (Dylan O'Brien) and the remaining members of the powerful paramilitary organization that hunts them - Wicked. This promise is accompanied by another: a passage to "The Promised Land" in its time. Suspicion takes shape when Aris (Jacob Lofland), a survivor of another maze, alerts Thomas that something is not right.

Wes Ball returns to the helm of the franchise to show us more of the devastating effects of the Fulgor virus by presenting the post-apocalyptic scenery that is the desert called The Scorch. The desert is inhabited by Cranks, people affected by the disease that act perversely, similar to zombies. These concepts are not new to the creation of a dystopian world, nor are they executed in a properly original way. Many of the aspects that have made The Maze Runner into a single movie are left out in this sequel as the movie progresses from the chase scene to the chase scene and from one location to the next.

Is it justified to sacrifice a segment of the population in an attempt to find a cure for the virus? And when does civil responsibility outweigh individual rights? These are the perennial questions that are being invoked between the lines of the T.S argument. Nowlin. Its pertinence confers a sense of urgency to the narrative that the characters are not prepared to follow. They suffer from lack of character and development, only with little surprises at particular moments in the film. Jorge (Giancarlo Esposito) and his protege Brenda (Rosa Salazar) are news that ends up giving some dynamism to the group.

The action scenes, free from the maze walls, feature a larger scale, in this world with a Mad Max-like landscape. Both the special effects and the practical ones are credible and the atmosphere is engaging, it manages to entertain, even with little substance, something that is not uncommon, but that disappoints in any of the ways. This kind of premise begs for innovation, and even being adapted material, there is always space and time to spice up the story that does not justify its 128 minutes of duration.

Overall, Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials does not capture the full potential of this adventure nor does it feature interesting characters, but is competent enough to pass the test as a generic action movie focused on the adolescent audience. A satisfying chapter that well establishes the conflict for the last stage - Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018).