Friday, October 9, 2015

Movie Review: The Scorch Trials

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4046784/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1Director: Wes Ball
Series: The Maze Runner #2
Genre: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Teen, Drama
Company: 20th Century Fox
Release Date: September 18, 2015
Run Time: 132 minutes

Summary:

In this next chapter of the epic “Maze Runner” saga, Thomas (Dylan O’Brien) and his fellow Gladers face their greatest challenge yet: searching for clues about the mysterious and powerful organization known as WCKD. Their journey takes them to the Scorch, a desolate landscape filled with unimaginable obstacles. Teaming up with resistance fighters, the Gladers take on WCKD’s vastly superior forces and uncover its shocking plans for them all.

Review:

WARNING: SPOILERS FOR BOTH MOVIES AND ALL THREE BOOKS.



In the cinematic sequel to "The Maze Runner," Thomas and his friends are faced with new obstacles in a world that is, quite literally, falling apart at the seams. Before I get into the actual plot and characters, I would just like to express how thoroughly impressed I am with Wes Ball. As a first time director, he has done an amazing job transforming these books into movies and expressing his own vision in a way that remains loyal to James Dashner's world. Though "The Scorch Trials" was quite a bit different than its book counterpart, the excitement, tension and hilarity transferred well onto the big screen, and Wes did a fantastic job with the movie(s), overall. The settings were breathtaking, the Cranks wonderfully disgusting, and each scene seemed genuine and real. Also, he chose one helluva cast.

Differences:

First off, we have the Right Hand; an organization that is apparently working against Wicked in an attempt to free the kids that are being experimented on whereas, in the books, it was always Thomas and his friends against the world. With how the movies have set up the "battle" between Thomas and Wicked in the final movie, however, I do think that the Right Hand will work to the plot's advantage. Thomas has an army now once he finds it, anyway and they are going to kick some ass.

The Scorch wasn't a trial (that we know of). This was kind of a bummer because I would have preferred to see Thomas and the others acting as puppets rather than spending the entire movie running from Wicked, but it did make the confrontation at the end extremely intense and enjoyable.

Chuck is Brenda's brother. I actually had no problem with this and found it to be quite touching, especially because it served as a bonding moment between Thomas and Brenda in the Med Tent. This development was better than where I thought the plot was going, which was to make Brenda and Thomas siblings....

Aris. They didn't really go into Aris' character and, near the end, Minho said something along the lines of: "I still don't trust him." Because he wasn't really an important part of the movie and was just kind of... there—and because of the part he played in the book—I have to agree with Minho, even if he was just kidding around.

Random Doctor-lady? I thought, for one panicked moment, that she was supposed to be Thomas' mother or something. This woman was extremely random and didn't really serve a purpose other than telling us that Thomas sabotaged Wicked (a movie-addition to the story that I really enjoyed).

Minho getting captured. Obviously, this will fuel Thomas' anger and his willingness to fight back, so I was okay with it (not my baby Minho, no!!).

Cranks are made through a scratch and/or contaminated blood? Maybe this is just me not fully understanding the plot, but this doesn't make any sense. If it's true, why don't they just round all of the Cranks up and send them to another part of the world? Also, if the Immune's blood keeps the Flare at bay, why do they need to "harvest" them? Couldn't Tomas and the others just donate a bit of blood from time to time? In my mind, they could separate the Cranks from those that are normal and just treat the ones in the early stages of the Flare. It's like season 2B of "The 100" all over again. Just ask nicely!

Romance:

Unfortunately, the movie didn't really flesh out Thomas ad Theresa's relationship, so when he turned Brenda down in the club, it didn't make much sense to me. We had a few intimate moments between them in the books, but this was due to the whole mind-reading  thing, which wouldn't have transferred over very well to the big screen. Thomas and Brenda, on the other hand, had quite a bit of chemistry, though I would have liked to see a bit more progression from them as well. Her sudden attraction to Thomas in the club, even though it was drug-induced, didn't make much sense, as we were denied the touchy, feel-y, invading-your-personal-bubble Brenda that we see in the second book. I hope to see more scenes with just the two of them in movie three!

Favorite Scenes:

I love how many times the word "shit" was used during this movie. It wasn't very Glader-esc, but still incredibly funny. As was Thomas giving Jansen the Bird.

Winston turning into a Crank and then killing himself was an extremely powerful scene! It was also reminiscent of Newt's demise in book three, so I am a little nervous about his character and what sort of end he will receive. Will Wes still kill him off? I hope not; I don't think my heart can take it!

The club scene was exactly how I imagined it!

I was never a fan of Theresa in the books, but I did feel like her friendship/relationship with Thomas deserved a better ending, and Wes definitely pulled that off. Her betrayal in the movie was SO much better than the book, and I kind of wanted to punch her in the face because of it. But in a good way.

Near the end, when Thomas was willing to blow everyone up—killing himself and all of his friends—in an attempt to stop Wicked once and for all... WOW. And when Minho and the others stood behind him and supported him? RIGHT IN THE FEELS, YOU GUYS.

Predictions for Movie #3:

Thomas will find his army and infiltrate Wicked.

Theresa will die. As far as Newt goes, I have no idea what to expect.

Rating:

I. Loved. This. Movie. The actors were phenomenal and expressed emotion well, allowing me to connect with the characters in a very personal way (I mean, seriously. Just when I think Dylan's acting can't get any better, he proves me wrong). The Cranks were insanely scary—almost zombie-like—and completely freaked me out, and I enjoyed all of the action and humor. While I do wish they had incorporated Thomas getting shot and gave the other characters a little more screen-time, I was definitely impressed with this movie and cannot wait for the third.

☆☆☆☆


Did any of you go and watch the movie? What did you think?

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