Have you ever been in a haunted house? If so, you probably walked through a series of dark rooms and narrow passageways, while noticing distinct themes in different areas of the house. A variety of scary creatures jumped out at you or reached for you. The timing of these attacks probably felt as random as the nebulous identities, wardrobe choices and make-up schemes of your attackers. You knew, of course, that none of this was real, but it was just unsettling enough to be fun. Eventually, you got to the end of this bit of entertainment and walked back out into the real world. You likely soon forgot most of the details of that haunted house, mainly because you probably hadn't experienced anything really new, and none of it had a lasting effect on your life. Watching "Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials" (PG-13, 2:11) is a lot like experiencing that haunted house.
This film is the sequel to 2013's "The Maze Runner" and is the second adaptation of James Dashner's initial "Maze Runner" trilogy (which has since added a prequel and is about to add another). The story is even more divergent (pun intended) from its source material than the previous movie was, this time preserving not much more than the mythology, main characters and the most important of plot points.
The action picks up right where it left off at the end of the first film, with Thomas (Dylan O'Brien) and the remaining Gladers, Newt (Thomas Brodie-Sangster), Minho (Ki Hong Lee), Teresa Agnes (Kaya Scodelario), Frypan (Dexter Darden) and Winston (Alexander Flores), taken by those who rescued them to a large facility where there's food and fresh clothes. These teens find out that theirs was not the only maze and they become friends with fellow survivor Aris Jones (Jacob Lofland), who suspects that there's more to their new home than meets the eye. The facility's manager, Mr. Janson (Aiden Gillen), assures the Gladers that they're safe now and will soon be taken to a more permanent and more comfortable home. Meanwhile, their freedom is restricted and security is tight. Every day, Janson calls out a list of names and those young people head for their new home. Aris suspects that those who are called never really leave the facility, suffering a fate that is less than comfortable. Soon, Thomas is convinced too.
The Gladers, now with Thomas clearly accepted as the group's leader, decide to venture out on their own into what's called "The Scorch", a vast wasteland where cities once stood. The earth was decimated by a solar flare and, now, what's left of humanity is struggling to survive and avoid getting a brain-altering disease called the Flare, which turns people into zombie-like creatures who roam freely and prey upon the innocent. (Think "World War Z" meets "Mad Max".) Thomas and company walk across a vast stretch of desert in search of a rebel group known as the Right Arm and their rumored safe haven in the distant mountains. On the journey, they have to elude Janson and his cohorts who believe that Thomas and his friends hold the key to curing the Flare within their bodies and want to bring them back to his prison-like complex. Along the way, the Gladers meet potential allies like maze survivors Harriet and Sonya (Nathalie Emmanuel and Katherine McNamara), underground community leaders Brenda and Jorge (Rosa Salazar and Giancarlo Esposito), and rebels Mary and Vince (Lili Taylor and Barry Pepper), but also have to contend with disagreements, treachery, injury and death within their own ranks.
"The Maze Runner" got a "B-", my barest of recommendations, with a fear that this saga could go off the rails with its next installment. It has. This story has all the narrative cohesiveness of a haunted house and all the significance of a Sunday morning cartoon. Notwithstanding a few nifty action sequences, this film is merely a collection of loosely-related scenes that accomplish little more than keeping the screen bright. Each of the "Divergent", "Hunger Games" and "Twilight Saga" movies stand on their own. "Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials" fails to do that, or even to prove to be a decent piece of entertainment. "C-"
This film is the sequel to 2013's "The Maze Runner" and is the second adaptation of James Dashner's initial "Maze Runner" trilogy (which has since added a prequel and is about to add another). The story is even more divergent (pun intended) from its source material than the previous movie was, this time preserving not much more than the mythology, main characters and the most important of plot points.
The action picks up right where it left off at the end of the first film, with Thomas (Dylan O'Brien) and the remaining Gladers, Newt (Thomas Brodie-Sangster), Minho (Ki Hong Lee), Teresa Agnes (Kaya Scodelario), Frypan (Dexter Darden) and Winston (Alexander Flores), taken by those who rescued them to a large facility where there's food and fresh clothes. These teens find out that theirs was not the only maze and they become friends with fellow survivor Aris Jones (Jacob Lofland), who suspects that there's more to their new home than meets the eye. The facility's manager, Mr. Janson (Aiden Gillen), assures the Gladers that they're safe now and will soon be taken to a more permanent and more comfortable home. Meanwhile, their freedom is restricted and security is tight. Every day, Janson calls out a list of names and those young people head for their new home. Aris suspects that those who are called never really leave the facility, suffering a fate that is less than comfortable. Soon, Thomas is convinced too.
The Gladers, now with Thomas clearly accepted as the group's leader, decide to venture out on their own into what's called "The Scorch", a vast wasteland where cities once stood. The earth was decimated by a solar flare and, now, what's left of humanity is struggling to survive and avoid getting a brain-altering disease called the Flare, which turns people into zombie-like creatures who roam freely and prey upon the innocent. (Think "World War Z" meets "Mad Max".) Thomas and company walk across a vast stretch of desert in search of a rebel group known as the Right Arm and their rumored safe haven in the distant mountains. On the journey, they have to elude Janson and his cohorts who believe that Thomas and his friends hold the key to curing the Flare within their bodies and want to bring them back to his prison-like complex. Along the way, the Gladers meet potential allies like maze survivors Harriet and Sonya (Nathalie Emmanuel and Katherine McNamara), underground community leaders Brenda and Jorge (Rosa Salazar and Giancarlo Esposito), and rebels Mary and Vince (Lili Taylor and Barry Pepper), but also have to contend with disagreements, treachery, injury and death within their own ranks.
"The Maze Runner" got a "B-", my barest of recommendations, with a fear that this saga could go off the rails with its next installment. It has. This story has all the narrative cohesiveness of a haunted house and all the significance of a Sunday morning cartoon. Notwithstanding a few nifty action sequences, this film is merely a collection of loosely-related scenes that accomplish little more than keeping the screen bright. Each of the "Divergent", "Hunger Games" and "Twilight Saga" movies stand on their own. "Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials" fails to do that, or even to prove to be a decent piece of entertainment. "C-"