Is Thomas an admirable role-model character, someone to be looked up to? This is a legitimate question Christian viewers may want to ask.īecause the central character’s name is Thomas, Christian and non-Christian viewers alike are in a way invited to make a connection to St. In “Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials,” some of Thomas’ heroic luster is becoming dull he comes across as less brave and more stubborn. There is a tendency to want to root for a film’s lead character even when he is less than heroic. Could Thomas simply be naive? Could the mantra “WCKD is good” be true? After all, WCKD is trying to cure the disease threatening humanity. And while the Gladers are not always entirely sure about the direction Thomas is taking them, they are portrayed as very trusting (the question isn’t whether Thomas is trustworthy but whether he’s making the best choices). This could easily leave viewers unfamiliar with the book series confused and frustrated.Īs in the first film, Thomas’ scepticism drives his actions and those of his fellow Gladers as they run from scene to scene. While the first film set up a mystery and planted the hope that a second film would provide some answers, what we have instead are more questions. What the film doesn’t provide is answers. The first film had a lot of running this second film also has a lot of running. In fact, it’s hard to remember if the Gladers (again, the group of teens who survived the maze of the first film) are even called Gladers in this second film. Gone is most of the Gladers’ inventive slang. Sadly, some of the distinctive things that made the first “Maze Runner” film intriguing and fun are missing. Like all these other films, “Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials” has lots of action, its share of paranoia and brooding, good-looking teen characters with a dash of romance. And with all these teen, dystopian, angst-ridden films hitting the theaters, directors like Wes Ball have their work cut out for them: How do you make your movie series stand out from the crowd? The James Dashner book series from which these films are drawn is a derivative imitation of dystopian young-adult works like Suzanne Collins’ “The Hunger Games” and Orson Scott Card’s “Ender’s Game.” These books, and books like Veronica Roth’s “Divergent” series, have all received the big-budget Hollywood film treatment lately. The survivors hope these resistance fighters can get them safely to a place called “Safe Haven.” In their efforts to escape, Thomas and his friends must cross a scorched, post-apocalyptic wasteland avoiding the human victims of “the flare” who tragically have turned into something like fast-moving zombies called “Cranks.” They also must deal carefully with the other survivors, who live in the Scorch as they work their way to a group of resistance fighters (The Right Arm) in the mountains. This second film is about escaping from WCKD’s plans to use the teens for continued laboratory experiments to find a cure for a disease called “the flare.” The first film was about escaping the maze made by the biotech-obsessed paramilitary organization called WCKD (WICKED - World in Catastrophe: Killzone Experiment Department). The story takes place in an environment as harsh as the maze, just as unforgiving and just as deadly, so again the theme is about overcoming adversity while trying to escape. Picking up where the previous film left off, Thomas (Dylan O’Brien), Teresa (Kaya Scodelario) and their surviving friends - the Gladers - who escaped the maze of the first film, find themselves catapulted into a bigger story with new challenges. “Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials” is Wes Ball’s follow-up to his film “The Maze Runner” (2014), based on the young-adult sci-fi book by James Dashner. “Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials” is no “Empire Strikes Back.” “Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back” is widely considered one of the best movie sequels of all time. (Rated PG and PG-13 for extended sequences of violence and action, some thematic elements, substance abuse and language directed by Wes Ball stars Dylan O’Brien, Kaya Scodelario, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Ki Hong Lee, Jacob Lofland, Rosa Salazar, Lili Taylor, Patricia Clarkson, Giancarlo Esposito, Barry Petter and Aidan Gillen run time: 132 minutes.) While this sequel has lots of action, it’s also missing some of the things that made the first “Maze Runner” film intriguing and fun, writes reviewer Rev.
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