#The scorch trials movie reviews series#

So, Thomas meets Aris, who shows him the evil experiments that WICKED runs on the kids who are supposed taken to “greener pastures”. I feel like this is a plot point from The Death Cure (I’m going to say this a few times throughout this review), and so it feels weird, especially when they just shrug it off (“they’re from other Mazes!” and then it’s never brought up again) compared to them having trouble believing in the existence of just one other Maze in the book. So…the kids are taken to a facility where groups from several other Mazes are gathered and experimented upon. Of course, removing those elements (which I’d say is a good thing) also removes the bullshit reason for the protagonists to go through the Scorch in the first place, which means the movie has to come up with a new one instead. Also, Thomas’s pointless flashbacks are mostly cut and merged into essentially one important flashback that actually progresses the plot! Hurray! None of that bullshit “we’ll test you against ill-defined Variables that will do…something”. With that in mind, we get once again a WICKED (sorry, WCKD) with a much clearer goal and methodology. As a result, most of the movie changes (for the first one and this one) are actually taking into account plot points that only show up later in the books. I think, with hindsight, it’s pretty apparent that James Dashner had no idea where he was going while he was writing his book series. And I’m going to have to dissect most of them, so expect spoilers and a more detailed recap of the plot than I usually do in these reviews. Yeah, this one is a little bit more of a mixed results. Remember how I said that the Maze Runner movie overall made more sense than the book? Sometimes (let’s be real: most of the time), it can be a bad thing. I probably say that in all of my movie reviews, since all the movies I’ve reviewed so far are adaptations. Okay, so here’s the thing about adaptation: things are bound to change. I’m not sure if it’s really a good thing or not. With said fanfiction being a fix fic, or a rewrite, by someone who’s…somewhat more competent than the author. Visit Ben Kendrick's website for info on his fiction work, follow him on Twitter or check out what he's doing now over at Rise at Seven.I…think we either reached “fanfiction with a budget” territory. Thanks to a background in fiction writing, Ben is drawn to films that make story and character a priority however, that doesn't stop him from enjoying a range of Hollywood offerings - from blockbuster action flicks to campy so-bad-they're-good B-movies. A graduate of the New School’s Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program, Ben has been passionate about movies ever since standing in line for a midnight showing of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade when he was eight years-old.

He is a member of the Denver Film Critics Society as well as the Online Film Critics Society - with work referenced, cited, or syndicated on CNN, Wikipedia, Huffington Post, Rotten Tomatoes, IMDB, Yahoo, and Business Insider, among others.

The result is a respectable, though slightly less unique chapter, in Ball's trilogy - borrowing one trope after another from superior post-apocalyptic tales for an amusing but overall hollow narrative.īen Kendrick is the former Content Director (and current film critic) of Screen Rant, CBR, and Collider as well as host of the Screen Rant Underground and Total Geekall podcast. Nowlin) makes significant changes in adapting the book for big screen viewing. The director has developed another solid entry in this young adult film series, moving the plot along at a brisk pace yet, The Maze Runner series' most dedicated fans will be left scratching their heads at many of his changes.

#The scorch trials movie reviews series#

Like the last film, The Scorch Trials is a departure from James Dashner's source novel series - and Ball again (along with screenwriter T.S. Returning to direct The Scorch Trials, director Wes Ball continues the highly-serialized story he started in The Maze Runner. With no memory of life on the outside, Thomas takes a gamble and leads his companions into 'The Scorch' - the desert ruins of civilization, home to depraved scoundrels, deadly super-storms, and the mysterious but lethal 'Cranks'. Yet, when Teresa is separated from her fellow Gladers by a group of researchers at the facility, Thomas begins to question whether or not their hosts are friends or foes - leading the maze survivors to, once again, plot an escape.