Writers: T.S. Nowlin (screenplay), James Dashner (novel)
Stars: Dylan O'Brien, Kaya Scodelario, Thomas Brodie-Sangster
Storyline:
In this next chapter of the epic "Maze Runner" saga,
Thomas (Dylan O'Brien) and his fellow Gladers face their greatest challenge yet:
searching for clues about the mysterious and powerful organization known as
WCKD. Their journey takes them to the Scorch, a desolate landscape filled with
unimaginable obstacles. Teaming up with resistance fighters, the Gladers take
on WCKD's vastly superior forces and uncover its shocking plans for them all.
Details:
Official Sites: Official Facebook | Official Google+
Country: USA
Language: English
Release Date: 18 September 2015 (USA )
Also Known As: Maze Runner 2
Filming Locations: New Mexico ,
USA
User Reviews:
Let's get this straight out of the way. If you are tired of
movies based on books that present a young cast, you won't find something here
to convert you. However if you found the first movie to be a surprisingly
entertaining, solid action flick;or if you don't mind the age of the main
characters as long as the story deliveries, there's plenty to like here. Specially
because there are some improvements over the flaws of the first film.
The action sequences are gripping, well directed and have a
feel of raw realism. It's evident that the ensemble of actors- young or mature-
gave it all physically. It seems as though the stunts doubles had little to do
in comparison to the average action flick.
If in the first movie you got 2 or 3 action scenes to keep
you in the edge of your seat,in The scorch trials you'll find action almost
from the beginning.I'm not a fan of non-stop action, but I was particularly
impressed with Barry Pepper who I heard filmed his action scenes with a broken
ankle.
The acting is extremely good. Not only the young lead Dylan
O'Brien and his young co-stars, Ki Hong Lee, Kaya Scodelario, Rosa Salazar and
Thomas Brodie Sangter, deliver strong performances, but also the supporting
cast of mature actors. By the way if you have read or heard that the very
talented supporting cast of mature actors is there only for their paychecks or
that "they have better things to do" you are hearing a biased opinion
by unprofessional reviewers who are tired of "YA adaptations". But
just because some reviewers are tired of this "subgenre" doesn't mean
that plenty of talented cast and crews aren't fully involved with these kind of
stories in spite of the studios greedy intentions.
This movie might not be perfect, might not be for everyone
but one thing that you can tell for sure is that Barry Pepper, Alan Tudik, Aidan
Gillen, Lily Taylor, Patricia Clarkson and particularly Giancarlo Esposito gave
it all. They have amazing chemistry with the very talented young cast and they
seem to be screaming "100% commitment to my role". It became clear to
me through their committed performances that they believed in the project and
that they trust the director Wes Ball. There's plenty of character development
opportunities and these mature actors take advantage of them all even if their
screen time is limited. Ava Paige as played by Patricia Clarkson started the
movie as the archetypal "evil scientist" and by the end of the movie
I was somehow rooting for her. She really needs to find a cure to this
mysterious disease called "the flare". Giancarlo Esposito started
limited by a role that seemed at first written to fulfill a quota of the
typical "evil adult vs. innocent kid" trope. However, as the movie
moves on we discover that he is far from being a cartnoonish "evil adult"
and that his character is full of humanity. A scene in which he is concerned
over his protegé was one of my favorites of a film from which I was only
expecting mindless entertainment and non-stopping action.
The problem is that this brilliant cast was limited by a
script that seemed to go nowhere. I'd say the script it's not as strong as the
one of the first movie and that script wasn't particularly good to begin with. There
are some improvements. This time some clichéd lines have gone away, there's
more backbone to the characters and a little more of "showing-not-telling".
But if you are thinking that everything that didn't make sense in the first one
will make sense in this movie you might end up disappointed.
One more time the movie ends in a cliffhanger although this
time there's not a last minute info-dump. If you don't mind these minor flaws
on the script you might end up enjoying the ride.
In my opinion, the strongest part of the movie, besides the
thrilling action and good acting are the visuals. I enjoyed the shots of the
scorch because the cinematographer took plenty of risks. I want to see the
movie again just to appreciate these shots better. There were also interesting
shots in terms of composition.
The VFX is extremely well executed. I thought the director
was going to get overboard with the CGI usage but he wisely balanced the visual
effects with the emotional arc to take the audience to a journey through this
devastated lands in which under each nook, each skeleton building lies a new
danger, a new story, a new world which I'd love to explore.
As if this wasn't enough to make me want to see the movie
again, Joe Paesano's score (Daredevil TV series, The maze runner) was masterfully
used and added a special feeling to the already beautiful visuals. Mark my
words, Paesano's scores will get him an Oscar somewhere in the near future.
The scorch trials has everything to become a huge
international box office success because is a solid, yet imperfect second
chapter, that will keep audiences entertained and screaming for chapter 3.
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