Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
Aside from superhero movies, there’s one genre that’s hoovering up all the box office revenue in the cinemas these days. The precise labelling is open to interpretation, but it’s something like ‘young adult dystopian fiction’, and it’s all the rage with the youngsters who swarm to these movies like a moth to a dusty lamp.
Since The Hunger Games burst onto the scene a few years ago and blazed its genre-defining trail across both the paperback and silver screen landscapes (even though that series itself is a blatant rip-off of the far superior Battle Royale, but that’s an argument for a different day), these sort of book-followed-by-film-adaption releases have been ten-a-penny.
The Maze Runner series is definitely the best of the bunch left in Katniss Everdeen’s wake, but unfortunately its second film The Scorch Trials suffers from too many serious problems to be considered a top film.
Part two picks up literally minutes after the first film ended, with main protagonist Thomas (O’Brien) and his buddies – the ‘Gladers’ – rescued from the maze and being taken to a safe haven where they are fed, watered and clothed by Mr Janson (Gillen).
Apparently, they are here to be kept safe from the World Catastrophe Killzone Division (WCKD), but, of course, in a (not so) shocking turn of events, it’s actually WCKD who has captured them.
Lulled into a false sense of security, the group, plus survivors from other mazes across the continent, are then harvested in brutal science experiments in an attempt to find a cure for the Flare virus which has led the world to ruin.
Luckily, Thomas discovers this before it’s too late, and rounds his friends up and leads a breakout as they journey across The Scorch, a desolate landscape filled with insurmountable ruins, natural disasters and zombie-like infected humans called Cranks, to find a resistance group named The Right Arm in the distant mountains.
Unfortunately, this film is nigh-on impossible to understand or follow if you haven’t seen the first one. You’ll definitely be wanting to brush up as there is zero recap, either in the form of a flashback or from the main characters spouting expository dialogue for the first 15 minutes to handhold the uninitiated.
It’s not just the beginning where the problems lie either, but the middle and end. There’s barely any story here, it’s essentially a road movie where the Gladers move from one set piece to the next with little-to-no explanation other than Thomas frantically telling them to follow him on a whim.
I’m not sure why his friends have such complete trust in him as he comes off as a raving lunatic as he leads them from one sticky situation to the next without much of a plan. And, after being so prominent in the first film, characters like Newt and Minho who had a lot to offer are disappointingly shoved into the background all too frequently this time around.
Similarly, the ending shifts into pure sequel-setup mode for the last half an hour. It’s the same problem that the first film had and seems to be a running theme in this genre (I gave Mockingkay Part 1 a scathing review for similar reasons).
Even though ‘middle movies’ are tricky, any piece of dramatic fiction must have a solid beginning, middle and end. This was drilled into me by good ol’ Mr McCarthy in my first English lesson in Year 7, so why Hollywood directors handling huge franchises start off with a rope frayed at both ends with strands leading off in all directions I’ll never know.
Perhaps, lessons should have been taken from franchises such as Star Wars, Harry Potter or The Lord of the Rings. Love them or loathe them, they’re perfectly nuanced in terms of presenting a standalone, self-contained episode while still being part of a greater narrative.
Things aren’t all doom and gloom though. The visuals are absolutely stunning and encapsulate a world in ruin perfectly. Free from the confines of the Maze, the cinematographer has unleashed derelict skyscrapers, sterile compounds and crude communities upon us, backed up by a rumbling soundtrack. We definitely get a sense of how desperate the situation is, which goes a long way to covering over the various narrative pitfalls.
Character design is also superb, with the Cranks being some of the best-designed zombies in years. They’re so diluted these days by being absolutely everywhere you look, so it’s refreshing to see some genuinely scary creatures. Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad’s Gus) also turns in a show-stealing performance as a ruthless gang leader with a secret soft spot, with epic vocal delivery.
The action scenes mainly involve running away from things; be it guards, Cranks, thunderstorms, sand storms and other nasties. There’s more running in this film than a Tom Cruise YouTube compilation, and it does get tiring eventually but there’s enough tension, particularly in the final act, to make it worth a watch.
Ultimately, whether you enjoy this film or not will entirely depend on whether you’ve seen the first. If you haven’t, this is nigh-on unwatchable as you’ll have no idea what’s going on and will likely be frustrated at how it meanders aimlessly, but if you’re an existing fan, you’re going to love it regardless.
