Maze Runner sequel doesn’t meet expectations
Fans of first installment wish for more excitment and action in The Scorch Trials
October 30, 2015
Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials dominated the box office with $30.3 million on September 18 and the fans of the popular book series were excited to see how the second installment would be brought to life.
Last year The Maze Runner caught the attention of moviegoers with characters like the main protagonist Thomas (Dylan O’Brien) who was sent up to the Glade, surrounded by a giant concrete maze with monster-like robotic creatures at every corner.
Throughout the first film Thomas’ character evolves from being the new and confused kid to the strong leader figure. The Maze Runner was a very promising film filled with action and suspense. In all honesty the movie was a thrilling ride and of course the story plot was outstanding.
I, on the other hand, havemixedfeelingsabout the second installment, Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials. The actors were promising at portraying their characters, but the way that the movie was directed was appalling.
The plot was just depressing. The movie did not live up to the first film at all. I was disappointed by how little actually happened in the movie. It seemed to be a typical “teenagers-get-chased- around-by-zombies” movie.
If you compare the second Maze Runner to other films that are in the teenage-characters-in-a-dystopian-future genre like the latest version of The Hunger Games or The Divergent Series, The Scorch Trials doesn’t live up to the hype. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part One made a profit of $122 million on the first weekend opening. The Divergent Series: Insurgent made a profit of $52 million on the first weekend opening. Their plot lines seem to be really well thought out and their characters are always overcoming new obstacles that they are forced to face from the beginning to the end of the films.
Meanwhile in the Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, their main protagonist Thomas does not evolve much. The actor O’Brien is actually an outstanding actor based on his other types of work including his role as Styles in the MTV show “Teen Wolf.” In the Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials their characters seemed to be in one mind set and were not able to evolve as a character through the course of the story.
Once the movie ended there was a huge cliffhanger that I did not like. I basically paid $8 for a two-hour movie that didn’t have a solution to their own problem. The whole movie was just a big let down. As the film had ended and I was exiting the movie theater I couldn’t help but feel depressed because of the movie. At first I thought, “Maybe it’s just me maybe I just had really high expectations for the movie?” so as usual I asked for my mother’s opinion and she completely agreed with me.
Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials did not compare to the first film at all, and because of its slow moving plot, lack of character development, and anction I would give this movie a 3 out of 10 rating.
