By Bob Garver<\/p>\n
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The last \u201cMaze Runner\u201d movie ended with a handful of our teenage main characters escaping the maze and learning they had been put there by a corporation called WCKD (pronounced \u201cWicked,\u201d just so you know they\u2019re bad guys). WCKD had put them in the maze because the world was falling apart due to a virus and the kids needed to be tested on\u2026 something. The kids were \u201crescued\u201d from the WCKD facility and flown in a helicopter to an unknown location.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Scorch Trials\u201d begins with the survivors arriving at a new facility full of fellow maze-solvers. Supposedly the place is very safe, and the best and brightest may soon be relocated somewhere fun. Thomas (Dylan O\u2019Brien) soon discovers that the facility is run by WCKD and the kids selected for relocation are in suspended animation having their brains harvested. Of course, everyone already suspects that the facility is evil because the guy in charge is played by Aidan Gillen (best known as Littlefinger on \u201cGame of Thrones\u201d) and I don\u2019t think he\u2019s played a good or trustworthy character in his whole career. The character wouldn\u2019t be more suspicious if his name were Mr. Judas.<\/p>\n
The kids escape the facility and go looking for a resistance called the Right Arm rumored to be in the mountains somewhere. To get to the mountains, they have to brave \u201cThe Scorch,\u201d the desert terrain that has overtaken the Earth and somehow made all the buildings decay. Seriously, how has this virus affected actual buildings? Also, lightning chases after humans in this environment. I don\u2019t know what\u2019s sillier, that the lightning is so aggressive or that the humans are somewhat successful in outrunning it.<\/p>\n
The rest of the film sees our heroes running to various safe havens only to discover that they\u2019re not really safe. They hide out in an abandoned shopping mall only to get chased out by Cranks (people infected with the virus who want to bite our heroes \u2013 basically zombies). They happen upon a band of survivors only to discover that they\u2019re opportunistic and unfriendly. They escape through a sewer only to get chased out by more Cranks. They go to a daytime nightclub only to find out that the mysterious liquid they\u2019re drinking has undesirable effects (are we supposed to be surprised that the drug water is drugged?). Then they finally meet up with the Right Arm, who are friendly, but the danger is far from over.<\/p>\n
The action is mostly your standard \u201crunning away from danger\u201d fare. The Cranks are sufficiently gross-looking, many of them having clawed out their eyes some time ago due to hallucinations. They\u2019re inconsistent in their attack methods, apparently possessing the discretion to hide and pop out for jump scares, yet when they do appear they\u2019re always charging and flailing about with zero sense of subtlety. WCKD, for an evil organization, doesn\u2019t come off as very evil. Or at least there\u2019s no reason why they need to be evil. They\u2019re trying to cure the virus that\u2019s wiping out the whole planet, and nobody else is offering up a better long-term plan. The Gillen character is clearly a bad guy, but it\u2019s hard to work up too much hate for the head baddie, the wizened Dr. Paige (Patricia Clarkson).<\/p>\n
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One and a Half Stars out of Five<\/p>\n
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\u201cMaze Runner: The Scorch Trials\u201d is rated PG-13 for extended sequences of violence and action, some thematic elements, substance use and language. Its running time is 131 minutes.<\/p>\n
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