The Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials – movie review

This second instalment of the action science fiction thriller picks up where The Maze Runner left off.

As the Gladers are unloaded from the chopper that flew them away from the maze, the helicopter doors fly open and masked soldiers whisk them into an underground bunker. The bunker is run by the duplicitous Janson (Aidan Gillen), who gives the Gladers food and shelter before they undergo tests ahead of being moved permanently to more comfortable surroundings. A daily ritual has Janson crying out little more than a handful of names, they being the ones who will be immediately relocated. One youngster that is particularly suspicious of what is actually at play here is a loner named Aris (Jacob Lofland), who has arrived from another maze (yes, apparently there were many of them). He confides in key Glader Thomas (Dylan O’Brien) and when the pair investigates what they find is deeply disturbing and decidedly sinister. It all points to one thing – events are being manufactured by a ruthless scientific government entity known as WCKD, which stands for World Catastrophe Killzone Department, which also controls the mazes.

The Scorch Trials refers to the desolate and inhospitable landscape the Gladers have to traverse to try to find a safe refuge. The film is again directed by Wes Ball (The Maze Runner) from a screenplay by T.S. Nowlin, who was one of three co-writers of the first movie. It is based upon the second novel in the book series by James Dashner, which has sold more than three million copies.

The initial picture did good business at the box office, raking in more than US$300 million and there’s no reason to believe any fans will have dropped off for this second offering. While the first film was about claustrophobia (Gladers were closed in and never saw a horizon), in this new offering the world – such that it is – opens up. Mind you, there is not much to see other than giant sand dunes and piles of rubble.

In The Maze Runner we witnessed biomechanical monsters terrorising those unfortunately trapped in the maze. Now hordes of zombies come out to play, not just once but repeatedly. While there is a lot of action and subterfuge in this second instalment there are still precious few answers about what WCKD is really up to. Not that that is necessarily a problem, because it just keeps us hanging out for more.

Dylan O’Brien continues to play the relatively quietly spoken hero who fellow adolescents and even the few adults on the right side are happy to follow. Before this chapter is over, the only female Glader, Teresa (Kaya Scodelario), will have played a significant part in how events unfold. Several newcomers to the franchise are introduced, although Ava Paige (Patricia Clarkson) goes about her wicked ways, asserting her authority over the nefarious WCKD.

I was a fan of the first instalment and this second helping kept me engaged in the storyline even though it lacked the originality that made me particularly fond of the original.

Rated M, Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials scores a 6½ to 7 out of 10.

Director: Wes Ball
Cast: Nathalie Emmanuel, Dylan O’Brien, Aidan Gillen, Jacob Lofland and Patricia Clarkson
Release Date: 10 September 2015
Rating: M

Alex First