Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials

This review may contain spoilers!

What this film has to offer is a lesson in how to build a fictional world in the best possible way. I would give Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials an 8.5/10.

What the first film did really well was create an interesting story within a contained setting, I enjoyed it and was looking forward to this sequel. Why I love this sequel so much is how the story remains interesting while expanding the world of Maze Runner by tenfold; with whole new environments like a government shelter, a zombie infested shopping mall, a mercenary base in the mountains, and even a make shift town with a pleasure den. But the film is more than just the world, the plot is actually really engaging in terms of WCKD versus these Gladers as well as Thomas' past. The pacing for this film is great, although some of the beats can be hit and miss; but overall the action picks up again at the right point to remain engaging. A long film needs to be visually engaging as well, which is something the cinematography is really worth commending for. The special effects in this feature feel natural and are quite minimalist to the film's benefit; most visuals were great with all except the CGI rat. The score and soundtrack for this film was quite atmospheric; it really went hand in hand with this world building aspect of the film.

Dylan O'Brien, who played Thomas, was a fantastic leading actor; he made an effort to portray wide range of emotions all while connecting to pretty much the entire cast. Kaya Scodelario, who played Teresa, became a bit more interesting in this film; I loved that she went against the group and even became a bit duplicitous. Thomas Brodie-Sangster, who played Newt, gave a very witty performance for the most part; but I liked before this when he dealt with heavier scenes like challenging Thomas or giving Winston the gun. Aidan Gillen, who played Janson, is great when he's playing shady antagonists; But while he played up aspects we know Gillen can do he also was exemplary in leading a military force. Patricia Clarkson, who played Ava Paige, had a lot more to do in this film; her stoic 'ends justify the means' antagonist really worked in light of the direction the plot took. Giancarlo Esposito;who played Jorge, was phenomenal in this film; he was a rogue who hit scenes with a spectacular amount of energy. Barry Pepper, who played Vince, truly portrayed a role that was very of the world; he excelled at being this post-apocalyptic rebel leader. Alan Tudyk, who played Marcus, was quite manic and borderline psychotic in his performance; I loved his character it really brought so much to the world itself.

However the best performance came from Rosa Salazar, who played Brenda. She was a rough character who had clearly been hardened growing up in the world; Salazar works hard to slowly let down her barriers as she develops her character within this film. She had a great relationship with Esposito, it was a very genuine father/daughter dynamic. Another connection she really had was with O'Brien; a large portion of the film was just the two of them and you really felt a connection. In fact the best scene she performed in was when she recounted about her brother to O'Brien; it was a somber scene with some great acting.

My main problem with this film is there isn't great lead on from the first film, not so much in terms of plot but in how the characters interacted with one another. It takes a good twenty minutes before the cast behaves in a way that seems more identical to how their characters acted in the first film. There's also a problem in that sometimes scenes or attention paid to dialogue takes too long and drags the film out a bit longer than it needs to. I wouldn't say this is a pacing issue as much as a scene by scene issue.

Nathalie Emmanuel, who played Harriet, had no screen presence; she was an exceptionally unnecessary character. Ki Hong Lee, who played Minho, was seriously underused in this film; his character had a read edge in the first film that was gone in this one. Lili Taylor, who played Mary Cooper, was quite a mundane role; she just droned exposition at the screen which wasn't interesting. Jacob Lofland, who played Aris Jones, had every chance to be interesting but lost it after the opening scenes; after his introduction as someone who was more knowledgeable about WCKD at the start this character is quickly diminished to the background. Dexter Darden, who played Frypan, had less fun lines this film; so he was used just as poorly as last film but didn't even have a chance to shine. Alexander Flores, who played Winston, was someone who had no screen presence; so when his character died it wasn't all that sad.