Maze Runner: Scorch Trials (2015)
Certified: 12A
Duration: 131 minutes
Directed by: Wes Ball
Starring: Dylan O’Brien, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Ki Hong Lee, Rosa Salazar, Kaya Scodelario, Jacob Lofland, Giancarlo Esposito, Aidan Gillen, Dexter Darden, Alexander Flores, Barry Pepper, Lili Taylor, Alan Tudyk, Patricia Clarkson
KRS Releasing Ltd
The Maze Runner, released last year, featured a young adult dystopian future that combined thrills, angst and drama, proving it was not just another Hunger Games rehash.
Scorch Trials is the adaptation of the second book by James Dashner. It kicks off beautifully and will keep the fans of the first movie well satisfied as this picture is engaging and intense. Packed with characters that are actually worth caring about, the film emerges to be a more satisfactory movie than the first one. It gives us more time to explore the world outside the maze. This time around, the emphasis is not on a maze but rather on a chase in a wasteland.
Scorch Trials opens moments after the events of the first film, as teenagers Thomas (Dylan O’Brien) and the Gladers (his friends from the first movie), are being carried in helicopters to a military base. By hook or by crook, they had survived the attacks of the WCKD organisation whose plans left the world a barren landscape, devoid of life.
The teenagers are now joined by Janson (Aiden Gillen), a smooth-talking corporate agent that seems to be in rivalry with WCKD. The setting is suspicious to say the least but with the promise of salvation most of the teens let themselves be taken in. Thomas is not convinced as too is Aris (Jacob Lofland), who is very much a loner and is not trusting at all.
It is evident that the producers put a lot of care and attention into this film
They eventually discover that Janson and Ava Paige (Patricia Clarke), the head of the WCKD, have joined forces and are taking essential fluids from the maze runners.
Thomas and the Gladers decide to escape and so emerges the Scorch: the devastated and burnt area that the world has become. Here they are hunted by the zombie-like Cranks as they try to escape into the mountains.
It is evident that the producers put a lot of care and attention into this film. They devoted time and energy to character exposition and also to creation of the scorched earth where the sun is king while the Cranks provide plenty of scares. This gives the sequel a faster tempo and a more elaborate set-up than the first picture, thus Scorch Trials goes over and above the novelty factor of the first movie.
The film comes packed with special effects that are seamlessly integrated into the proceedings. It can be described as one huge run across a post-apocalyptic land that will leave both the characters and the audience breathless. At the base of everything is an underlying sense of mystery, of what is driving the story.
The film has some interesting performances, not the least of which is that of Giancarlo Esposito who as the gang boss Jorge is a hoot.
The third film, titled Death Cure, is set to be released in 2017 and against the current trend, it will not be divided into two parts!