Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015)

[CJohn]

Discuss!

[antovolk]

Extended thoughts/review.

Much more enjoyable and better than the first. Bigger scale, awesome worldbuilding, surprisingly strong and satisfying story too. Only sorta complaint is that the first act was breakneck-fast but the pace smoothed out eventually. Cast was great in their roles, MVPs were Esposito and Salazar, CIA (Gillen) was really awesome but a tad underused. The Empire Strikes Back approach feels much fresher here, especially keeping first instalment in mind. SPOILERS: really liked the Act 3 set-up/twist with Teresa betraying them and the ESB-esque "bad guys (sorta) win" ending. Score was great, CoD: Zombies - Cranks Edition NEEDS to happen, and can't wait for the (un-split) finale!

FYI - haven’t read the books, and not intending to to keep film experience fresh. From what I understand Wes changed a lot to make this a superior movie and that’s fantastic. The whole thing reminds me of the whole MJ1 situation - Francis would’ve achieved what Wes did here if MJ was one film. Faithfulness be damned. TST pretty much proves that.

8.5/10

[Lizzy]

Soild C+ from me. entertaining enough I guess but does feel very similar to other YA films out there. I agree with Antovolk that Gillen was a highlight.

My 12 year old on the other hand loved it and would of given it an A :-)

Edited September 10, 2015 by Lizzy

[DAJK]

This is just copied/pasted from my blog:

 

As more and more of these Young Adult (YA) book adaptations release into theatres, we as audiences start to see so many similarities that these films all start to blend into one gray area. However, there have been a few franchises that have stood out from the rest; in that they either bring something new to the table, develop compelling characters, or just because they are purely entertaining; these movies are the Harry Potter series, The Hunger Games, and The Maze Runner. Last September, The Maze Runner almost came out of nowhere, earned generally positive critical reception, and went on to earn nearly $350 million worldwide on a modest $34 million budget. For the most part, I thought that film was great, minus a few genre cliches and underdeveloped characters and plot points (it was also a good adaptation of the book I will admit to having read, and enjoyed very much).

The ending to 2014’s The Maze Runner however left many casual viewers displeased, as well as skeptical for future installments. However, instead of bogging down the series, The Scorch Trials is the second entertaining spark this series has enjoyed. While this movie is far from a faithful adaptation (I will get to that in a minute) The Scorch Trials sprints past its occasional flaw to provide viewers with one of the most entertaining films of 2015 thus far. I really have to disagree with the critic’s consensus here; I thought this film was great.

To even hear the name “Scorch Trials” is actually a spoiler for the first film in a way, so I will not discuss any plot points here. Instead, I will applaud the film for its acting, effects, action, storytelling, (and a lot of professional critics may not agree on this) but the mythology that this film is building. The Scorch Trials does include many similar elements to other Young Adult book adaptations, but the difference here is it executes these ideas in a superior way. This film answers many questions brought up at the end of the first movie, as well as leaves viewers in the dark regarding other aspects of “the world of the Maze Runner”. This “the audiences only get pieces of the mystery at a time” approach is a bold one, and it has paid off so far.

The acting is solid across the board, with special praise going to Dylan O’Brien in the lead role, Aidan Gillen who has appeared numerous times in the trailers, as well as Barry Pepper, who shows up in the last leg of the film. The other supporting actors do a fine job as well, however, they are more or less pushed to the side during a significant portion of the movie. While Rosa Salazar played her part well, I would have much rather spent more time with characters from the first movie than with her. I understand that a lot of what happens in this movie is to set up for a final installment, but in this aspect, I wish we as an audience had been given more.

With the fact that The Scorch Trials is, at its core, a zombie apocalypse survival movie, the script provides more than a few really good action sequences, some involving these “Cranks” (zombies). The special effects in this movie are incredible, especially for such a lot ($61 million) budget, and the action is extremely well done. Director of the first Maze Runner steps it up in the action department, giving us bigger and better action sequences that are perfect for popcorn entertainment. I will go so far as to say that The Scorch Trials has better zombie action than more well-known zombie thrillers such as World War Z and 28 Days Later.

Now, I will mention that this movie deviates greatly from the source materiel, and fans don’t usually welcome these types of changes. However, much of the audience I saw this movie with were fans of The Scorch Trials book, and when I talked to them after the movie, they actually told me how this was the first time that they actually liked the changes this movie made better than the events that occurred in the book. Considering the elements that were changed, I am curious as to where this franchise will go for its (presumably) final installment. However, if fans go into this movie with an open mind, they will be pleasantly surprised.

As a whole, I highly recommend The Scorch Trials. While a basic knowledge of The Maze Runner is required (nothing more than what you can look up on Wikipedia) this movie is honestly great for fans and non fans alike. While it suffers from underdeveloped side characters as well as “middle chapter cliches” (no true beginning yet no true end either), it is one of the most purely entertaining films of 2015. Acting as the darker, Empire Strikes Back middle chapter of the Maze Runner saga, The Scorch Trials is a standout among the September movie season.

I will give Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials an A-.

[Vanilla]

I'm ready for the next.

[RobinHood26]

First act was the strongest, 2nd dragged, had two endings back to back which felt strange. After the first act the whole mystery part of the plot seems lost, plus some cheesy moments. Wes does create some good tension, and some solid scares. Music was great too, but overall felt little clunky and a downgrade from the first. 

 

B- (81)

[DAJK]

First act was the strongest, 2nd dragged, had two endings back to back which felt strange. After the first act the whole mystery part of the plot seems lost, plus some cheesy moments. Wes does create some good tension, and some solid scares. Music was great too, but overall felt little clunky and a downgrade from the first.

B- (81)

The music was actually pretty good yea.

[RobinHood26]

Lol is no one else gonna review this. 

[James]

Really, really enjoyed this. I liked the second book less than the first one so I had doubts, but I ended up liking this better than the first movie. Great acting and some insane VFX considering the budget. 

 

A

[ladyevenstar22]

i have mixed feelings on this one , granted i did miss the first 15mn so i'll go back to see it but i agree the first act was ok , the 2nd kinda felt like being on an elevator tapping your foot waiting to get off , the end ehhh mehhh

 

i found it got a bit repetitive , thomas says i'll be right there and then he runs like crazy , ok ok we got it he's the fastest runner in the maze and outside yawn , also some shit happens they run on a loop ....

then they aimlessly wander , i love that the other character actually voice that concern "we followed you but you don't have a plan" kinda quote , oh let's go find some random group in the mountain , yeah that's a plan, at least teresa had a plan even if she's supposedly in the wrong

 

then they meet these kids we get a snippet oh we were in the maze? then nothing about it again, oh there were people in the maze that got out ? huh?

 

the action set were good but once again i'm left on my hunger and get the feeling i'd be better off reading the book to get the full story and fill in the gaps movies inevitably jump 

 

it gets a B-  i'm not psyched about a sequel as i was after the first one ....hopefully reading the books helps, i have them on my kindle 

[Guest gabz]

there are 7 guys and 1 girl... but in the morning 6 guys and 1 girl,, the small kid was missing? can some one tell me what to the kid?

[BK007]

F

 

Terrible movie. Quite possibly the worst movie I've seen this year.

 

Granted, two things have to be taken into account to reach this conclusion. 1) The first movie 2) The books

 

This movie is passable as some one-off action movie, but fails in every other aspect. The books weren't great themselves and I forced myself to make it through them because I wanted to know what would happen in the end. It was not satisfying and yet the movie makes it even worse.

 

So, how does The Scorch Trials add to the Maze Runner? Maybe because the first movie was actually a boring piece of crap as well, that no one can remember it makes it harder for people to question, however, the development in this movie makes no sense. 

 

WCKD wants a cure for whom? They harvest the cure for whom? Why does anyone even need a cure? Where the hell is everyone going? 

 

They have caught Minho, so now Thomas intends to go back and free him...sounds like Mockingjay and well, just about every other stupid sci-fi fantasy youth series. The protagonist has absolutely no tools or ideas of how to do it or whether it is even possible they can do it with absolutely no skills. Teresa is ridiculously underdeveloped. All this intrigue is trying to overcome the shallowness of the actual story. There is none. They could have mined the children from the start. They didn't need to go into a maze at all. No one realises this and it's now yet another stupid action movie. Fuck Hollywood. 

 

Also, once again, a la Insurgent or Divergent or whatever, they could kill the leader and they don't. What is this? A cartoon? In real life, they would be dead, but there would be no sequel. Awful. Awful. Awful. Kill it with fire. 

[TheMovieman]

I thought it was alright. Had some entertaining moments and was digging the new character, Brenda, played by Rosa Salazar. As others had said, it is a bit clunky it is, IMO, indistinguishable from so many other of these YA adaptations. However, given how indifferent I was with the first film, which I only saw a couple weeks ago in preperation in seeing this one, I was mildly entertained and the visual effects weren't half bad, although there were times I thought I was watching a Resident Evil movie...

 

***¼/*****, (C+, 6.6/10, 2.75/4)

[John Marston]

started great, 2nd act was kind of dull but the last act was exciting and I can't wait for the next one