With that in mind, we get once again a WICKED (sorry, WCKD) with a much clearer goal and methodology. As a result, most of the movie changes (for the first one and this one) are actually taking into account plot points that only show up later in the books. I think, with hindsight, it’s pretty apparent that James Dashner had no idea where he was going while he was writing his book series. And I’m going to have to dissect most of them, so expect spoilers and a more detailed recap of the plot than I usually do in these reviews. Yeah, this one is a little bit more of a mixed results. Remember how I said that the Maze Runner movie overall made more sense than the book? Sometimes (let’s be real: most of the time), it can be a bad thing. I probably say that in all of my movie reviews, since all the movies I’ve reviewed so far are adaptations. Okay, so here’s the thing about adaptation: things are bound to change. I’m not sure if it’s really a good thing or not. With said fanfiction being a fix fic, or a rewrite, by someone who’s…somewhat more competent than the author. A Fox release.I…think we either reached “fanfiction with a budget” territory. Nowlin, based on the James Dashner novel. MPAA Rating: PG-13 for extended sequences of violence and action, some thematic elements, substance use and languageĬast: Dylan O’Brien, Kaya Scodelario, Rosa Salazar, Ki Hong Lee, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Patricia Clarkson, Giancarlo Esposito, Barry Pepper, Lili Taylor, Alan TudyckĬredits: Directed by Wes Ball, script by T.S. It’s a simple formula, one which reveals itself even to its teen target audience while binge watching these copycats.īut nobody’s abandoning it, not while these movies - repetitive though they are - are making a mint. The original “Maze Runner” prompted a scorching “Saturday Night Live” parody that hit all the marks in how these teens-save-civilization pictures, from “The Hunger Games” to “Enders Game,” “Divergent” to “The Gift,” share. But we’ve seen this character before, too. Esposito (TV’s “Revolution”) has played too many versions of this end-of-the-world might-be-villain to make this one stand out.Ĭlarkson has a mincing, bureaucratic menace about her. Tudyck is the most colorful of the new characters. The script, based on James Dashner’s ridiculously derivative novel, is not. That and the action beats give us hope that this overlong actioner (2:11 seems 30 minutes heavy) will skate by on excitement. The dystopian production design is of a higher order in this second film. Barry Pepper and Lili Taylor show up later.Īnd all the while, Thomas & Friends are on the run - from WCKD hunters and zombies ( called “cranks” here) and others who mean them harm. Alan Tudyck presides over a party at the end of civilization. Giancarlo Esposito and Rosa Salazar play characters who have formed an outlaw collective for self-preservation in the ruins. Not only is the environment unforgiving, but the zombies infected by The Flare are everywhere. “You kids wouldn’t last one day in The Scorch!”
He must find those in revolt against WCKD. Thomas must lead his crew - Minho (Ki Hong Lee), Newt (Thomas Brodie-Sangster), Teresa (Kaya Scodelario), Frypan (Dexter Darden) and Winston (Alexander Flores) - out of the desert fortress, into “The Scorch,” the sand-covered wasteland that surrounds it. “Coma” plans, for those who know their sci-fi. Patricia Clarkson is in charge of the World In Catastrophe: Killzone Experiment Department.
Thomas is the one who listens to the hooded, guarded Aris (Jacob Lofland). By the not-quite-confidence-inspiring Janson (Aiden Gillen). They’re put into the barracks of a fortress, to be trained. They were tested by that first deadly maze, and there are more mazes here, though they’re not identified as such. Thomas (Dylan O’Brien) and his fellow survivors of “The Glade” are back. And there’s nothing that happens after that - new characters, big action flourishes - that can jolt this middle film in the trilogy to life.
The chases, brawls and gunfights are more intense, the cast broader, with more “name” players adding credibility.īut it runs out of gas at about the time it starts to look like just another riff on the zombie movie. The conspiracy grows deeper even as the mystery unravels. The “Maze Runner” sequel, “The Scorch Trials,” starts at a sprint and hurtles at us for a good long, stretch, before it stops to catch its breath.
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