Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials is an unexpected delight due to its predecessor, The Maze Runner, being so tepid, generic and unnecessarily bleak—ending on a note that makes the final Harry Potter battle seem cheerful and bubbly. I was neither bored nor indifferent to the events in The Scorch Trials—instead feeling engaged while having a really fun time! Compared to its predecessor, The Scorch Trials has more energy, entertainment, characterization and a vast improvement in focus—making it a franchise-saving sequel.
The series returns right where it left off, with the remaining Maze survivors being transported to a safe haven. Immediately upon landing, the transport is attacked by violent mutants transformed by the apocalyptic Flare virus. Hastily rushing to the safe haven, the surviving teens are grouped with other teens from various Maze facilities (turns out there were more than one). The facility’s head Mr. Janson (Aidan Gillen) informs them they are now safe from both the mutants and WCKD (pronounced wicked, which, by the way, is the worst name to give an organization aiming to appear as the good guys), and will soon to be taken to “farms” for their well-being. Rightfully suspicious of Mr. Janson’s all too good news, group leader Thomas (Dylan O’Brien) decides to investigate—with him includes Minho (Ki Hong Lee), Newt (Thomas Brodie-Sangster), Frypan (Dexter Darden), Teresa (Kaya Scodelario) and redshirt Winston (Alexander Flores). The film also introduces Aris (Jacob Lofland), who’s only been at the facility for a week yet knows all its ins and outs. With Aris’ help, Thomas learns Mr. Janson is actually working for WCKD (who could’ve foreseen that), who plans on “draining” the remaining teens to create vaccines for the Flare virus. Thomas and friends escape, yet find the outside world (known as “the Scorch”) to be even more dangerous than the Maze.
Here’s an out of left field question: ever played, or at least heard of The Last of Us? It’s a video game released several years back and a fairly successful one as well—an action-adventure survival-horror hybrid where one plays as survivors of a post-apocalyptic world. The Last of Us progresses episodically—in one chapter the characters are fighting (or evading) mutant zombies, while another chapter they’re against the totalitarian establishment while aiding the rebel cause. Inbetween the combat are storytelling cutscenes frequently generic to the genre, though occasionally unique and refreshing. The reason for such a seemingly random shout out is because The Last of Us and The Scorch Trials are very, VERY similar in design and plot.
The film progresses similarly to levels in a video game—every new area introducing characters and obstacles to overcome. The “Scorch Trials” are relentless and far surpass the somewhat underwhelming Maze. Thomas’ group is hunted by WCKD during the day, and chased by mutant zombies at night—the “chapter” then transitions to Thomas and crew facing solar storms, greedy outcasts, human traffickers, and fungi-growing mutants. The latter obstacles, known as the Crank, undoubtedly resemble the infected in The Last of Us, right down to losing their vision. The harsh situation keeps its liveliness at 11, yet director Wes Ball has seemingly learned from The Maze Runner, fluently adding some humorous dark comedy between the lively entertainment.
The film’s logic can come and go depending on the situation—for example, in one scene Thomas and crew find footprints in an abandoned building; “Look there are footprints. Someone’s been here.” Despite having recently seen the Crank attack their transport, plus being informed on several occasions about the mutants, the teens seem ignorant to the highly possible danger—deciding to split-up, yell a lot, and turn all the noisy power back on…brilliant! The characters’s lapses in common sense are infrequent, however, and take little away from The Scorch Trials energetic adventure.
SPOILERS BEGIN: The scene where The Scorch Trials transcends decent entertainment is when the plot shifted attention from the main group—focusing instead on a mini-adventure between Thomas and his new female companion Brenda (Rosa Salazar). The escapade mixes survival-horror, action, surrealism and romance to create a thoroughly entertaining side trip—refreshingly shifting focus for better character development and world building. Curiously Brenda gets more development in one film than Theresa did in the combined two. I suspect this has to do with romantic development, which is fine with me since Brenda has much more personality and spunk than Theresa (though I’m not certain what will happen since Brenda’s on death row and Theresa’s apparently a traitor). Brenda and her foster father Jorge (played by the always wonderful Giancarlo Esposito) are both wonderfully entertaining additions to the cast. Jorge, in particular, is an incredibly fun character, standing out for his wit, ruthlessness, hidden heart of gold and wonderfully dark sense of humor (he’s the series’s Han Solo). SPOILERS END
Perhaps it’s too soon to call, but The Scorch Trials may have helped The Maze Runner series overtake Divergent as my third favorite young adult film series (after the Hunger Games and Harry Potter). The Scorch Trials may share its predecessor’s baffling logic, but it far surpasses in energy, entertainment, character, comedy, and an ever-shifting plot that delightfully retains attention. Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials is incredibly fun entertainment, ending on a note that both satisfies and demands for a sequel—a sequel that I will certainly be going to see.