Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials

Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials – 132min – PG13

This is the second instalement of the film version of the Maze Runner book series. See what I did there. This move takes place in a desert wasteland inhabited by zombies and survivors that are just as dangerous as the zombies. This two hour journey is a long slog through the setting to get to anything of story substance. On the bright side it is on par with the first one but the first got a meh from me.

This film picks up right after the kids are rescued from the clutches of W.C.K.D. Here’s some advice for potential bad guys out there looking to start up a nefarious organization don’t call yourself by an acronym that is synonymous with evil. There is little wonder that you can get these good kids to join you. They find out that things are not as they seem with their protectors so they have to make a break for it and try and survive out in the scorch.

We get more clues to what the reason for the mazes were and we also get more questions as well. As a second part it completely expands the story of move one with enough story elements to launch into a third movie. But the question is will we be engaged enough to get there? If anything this movie also stands as testament that if this world were to go through a similar event, I would be dead because I don’t run enough. Man they do an awful lot of running. Apocalypse rule #1 Cardio

This one was longer and for the time we didn’t get anything more than longer walking scenes. The walk across San Francisco Bay was tedious for the characters as well as the audience. The unusual circumstance that the first movie gave us is now devolved into a scorched earth setting and lacks the curiosity of the first film.

Despite the length, I still enjoyed the tension of some of the scenes. They have kept up the monster quota only this time it’s darker and more of the zombie variety known as cranks. In the range of zombies they are the running after you kind, but not as fast as 28 Days rage zombies but still fast and surprisingly agile with joints that are not working. The cranks have been infected with the flare virus and one bite will convert you unless you are lucky enough to have a natural immunity.

I have always been a fan of post apocalyptical setting and this one has all of the right elements. A ruined city inhabited by crank zombies. Scarce resources so you have to scavenge for anything you can use to survive. These settings and the constant action is fine but they are only set dressing unless you have a really good story to tell.

I would have liked to have seen more development between the characters.There is no time to actually get to know the characters so their choices seem to be just follow the beats of the plot. Death of a character should have more impact than just a nod. Betrayal should punch you in the stomach not wave at you from across the room. Because of the lack of development we only have time to process the action and never get to focus on the people that the action is happing to.

Will I go and see the third one? Yes, because I’m a movie nut and will see anything. However I will not be counting the days until its release. I may see it because it is showing next.

Is there a series that you have seen on screen and have been reluctantly going to see only because you have seen the first two?

The Maze Runner

The Maze Runner - 113min - PG-13

The Maze Runner is equal parts Lord of the Flies and LOST. As a Young Adult (YA) movie, it was well done for the target audience. The Lost format is a gamble because if the audience gets, um.. lost you run the risk of disengaging them if the questions are not answered to their satisfaction. As enjoyable a ride as it was, the eleven-year-old boy in me was filled with questions. They wrote the film in a way that keeps the audience ignorant of much of the history. The viewer has to be left in the dark because they are laying down a new universe and they get information at the same time as the main character. The action and the setting were enough to keep me engaged, but only just, thus I give this movie a Yellow light for its Meh 'Sokay kind of a film.

Thomas (Dylan O'Brian) is on an elevator deep underground. He has no memory of why he is there or who he is. He finds himself in a place called The Glade with other young boys who also arrived in that same fashion. Every month a new boy is sent to the surface with supplies. All of them are mind wiped.

The Glade is at the center of a maze that changes nightly. At night the Maze closes up because deadly creatures known as Grievers roam the maze. At first light, a team of boys known as runners get ready to explore the maze looking for a way out. At night they come back to the safety of The Glade.

The boys have been living like this for three years. Now with the arrival of Thomas things start to change. The tribe of boys is led by the oldest, Alby (Aml Ameen) \ with Newt (Thomas Brodie-Sangster) as his second in command. The muscle of the tribe is called Gally (Will Poulter).

Thomas is different than the other people who arrived by elevator because he is notably more curious than the previous boys. Gally doesn't care for Thomas because he is different and his arrival coincides with other changes in the glade so he believes that Thomas is a harbinger of bad things to come.

A few days later another elevator arrives with a girl, Teresa (Kaya Scodelario). She has no supplies, only a scrap of paper in her hand declaring "This is the last one EVER".

The boys panic because the walls open up and the Grievers attack. The boys have to choose between staying and fighting or making a push to get out of the maze.

The end of the movie resolves some of the questions we have and in true LOST fashion they are coupled with more questions that hook you to the sequel to get the answers.

This movie franchise seems to have potential. The Director (Wes Ball) has a diverse résumé but for direction this is his first feature length film. This project is challenging because you have to balance a lot. I haven't read the books so I am taking the journey right along with the main character. I am willing to follow along at least for another film. However if it continues down the LOST path and resolves and creates more questions I am out.

Most of the answers come in the last 15 min of the movie. I'm sure that most of what I am wondering can be found in the book. That transition from book to film can be challenging because you can provide lots of information to the reader. A movie has a harder time of relaying information in an entertaining way. A story told on screen needs to be just as strong as one in print.

Each story is going to be about the same thing but told in a different way and both have to stand on their own merits. This story is another attempt to cash in on The Hunger Games like franchise. It too was a YA book and rides along the wave of like-minded stories from that genera. We've seen a lot of books to movies ever since the Harry Potter franchise ended and created a vacuum in the YA books and movies.

As far as The Maze Runner goes, I was only mildly interested until the big questions came in at the end. So as written they did their job as hooks for a sequel. I am only in it until they show me what they can do on the next film. You got a foot in the door, impress me.

If you want to go into more detail about the movie and how the end affected the story please drop me a line at fatsamuraireviews@gmail.com we can talk about it away from this blog.