I’ll admit, I published these a little out of order, but I was so excited by the hints at the third film that I figured the review of the second could wait a little longer! But, without further ado, here it is…
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Trilogies.
It is a truth universally acknowledged that the middle film in a trilogy is often considered to be the weakest. A filler between the introductory first film and the climax of the third.
Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, I applaud you. You have broken away from ‘middle film syndrome’ to become one of the hottest films of 2015.
Following the events of The Maze Runner, Thomas (Dylan O’Brien) and his friends from the Glade are thrust once more into danger by the organisation known as WCKD, all in the name of a cure for the brain-rotting virus, The Flare, which is eating away at people’s humanity and turning them into little more than living corpses. Scary ones.
But WCKD’s methods are somewhat controversial. They insist that the key to a cure is an enzyme found in the brains of the young – the Immune – and are set on harvesting it to further experiment. Naturally, Thomas and co. won’t stand for this, and they escape into what’s left of the world outside WCKD’s compounds: the Scorch.
For fans of the books, of which I am one, a lot of changes to the story have been made. Some plot points are missing, some have been added and others have been twisted almost beyond recognition; but each change that has been made is set to marry up with the events of the third book so beautifully that it’s hard to disagree with the reasoning.
The film is high on action and low on dialogue. This could have proved detrimental to character development, and with a lesser cast it might have done, but instead it gave the actors a chance to fine-tune their characters through their actions, which spoke far louder than their words.
O’Brien as Thomas is every inch the action hero. He’s lost the innocence he had in the first film, as Thomas battles his way across the Scorch. Ki-Hong Lee as the sassy Minho also deserves a mention, stealing more than one scene with his witty interludes.
The stand-out performance, though, comes from Thomas Brodie-Sangster as Newt. A master of subtlety, Brodie-Sangster can say more with one look than many actors can in an entire film.
It is when O’Brien, Lee and Brodie-Sangster are together, though, that the film is at its strongest. A trio of formidable young actors with a strong off-screen friendship that translates beautifully to their characters, it is almost impossible to take your eyes off them whenever they appear together on-screen.
That’s not to say the rest of the cast isn’t strong; it is. There are some sterling turns, particularly from Giancarlo Esposito as Jorge and Rosa Salazar as Brenda, not forgetting the suitably sleazy Aiden Gillen as Janson.
As a stand-alone film, this is a league above the second installments of The Hunger Games and Divergent. But the real telling point will be the third and final film – The Death Cure, set for release in February 2017 – when we see how Wes Ball has finished adapting the trilogy for the big screen.
Will the changes he made in The Scorch Trials’ transition from page to screen be resolved and justified in The Death Cure? Or will they lead to bigger, bolder changes with which even the most die-hard film fans will struggle to get on board?
It could go either way…
Approach With Caffeine 