Maze Runner: The Death Cure

 

"Three years we spent behind those walls, trying to break out.  And now you want us to break back in."

Thomas (O'Brien), Newt (Brodie-Sangster), and Frypan (Darden) are on a mission to save their captured friends from WCKD.  With help from Right Arm, they are able to save a train car of immune kids, but a second car, including their friend Minho (Lee), is taken to WCKD.

WCKD's base of operations is the walled "Last City".  The teens are informed that it is impossible to rescue their friends, especially when their last hope for escape is almost complete.  Thomas, Newt, Frypan, Brenda (Salazar), and Jorge (Esposito) sneak away to save Minho.  As they approach the Last City, they run into Gally (Poulter) who agrees to help them get past the guards.

In the city, WCKD scientists, led by Teresa (Scodelario)  and Ava Paige (Clarkson) are torturing the captured teens.  They hope to find a cure for the deadly Flare virus.  Janson (Gillen) and the other adults are desperate and willing to do anything to escape the virus.  They also expect Thomas and the other Gladers to make a rescue attempt.  Can the Gladers save the day and evade the reach of WCKD?

This is the third film in the Maze Runner series, following The Maze Runner in 2014 and Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials in 2015.  The films are based on the James Dashner young adult novels.  In addition to these 3 novels, Dashner wrote 2 prequel novels "The Kill Order" and the "The Fever Code" to set-up some of the details and backstories for the series.

The Good:

The plot sticks closer to the novel than the previous film, but there are still major changes.  The film opens at the start of the train heist.  This scene reminds the audience of the stakes: the tension and action are high, with no guarantee that the mission will succeed.  It is also a good reminder that no one is safe.

The rest of the film continues that momentum with the stakes, the action, the destruction, etc.  In this case, it feels warranted.  These teens, and their allies, are in danger that keeps escalating.  All of the characters (who are still alive) from the previous installments, make an appearance here.

The Bad:

They attempt to explain/justify/redeem the characters who have made questionable decisions in the previous entries, specifically Will Pouler's Gally and Kaya Scoldelario's Teresa.  They only succeed with Gally.  I dislike Teresa in the books and I do not like her at all in this film.  Her final act is not enough to change that.  It feels like a waste of time and effort.

Other Comments:

-Wes Ball returns as the director and T.S. Nowlin returns as the screenwriter.

-O'Brien was injured in the stunt that opens the film.  The injury was enough to halt filming for almost a year.

-A solid ending to the franchise.

-As usual, the book is better.  I suggest starting with the novels, and then watching the films.

Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018) 143 minutes

Rating: PG-13 for intense scenes of sci-fi violence and action, language, and some thematic elements

Director: Wes Ball

Starring: Dylan O'Brien as Thomas

Ki Hong Lee as Minho

Kaya Scodelario as Teresa

Thomas Brodie-Sangster as Newt

Dexter Darden as Frypan

Will Pouler as Gally

Jacob Lofland as Aris

Rosa Salazar as Brenda

Giancarlo Esposito as Jorge

Patricia Clarkson as Ava Paige

Aidan Gillen as Janson

Barry Pepper as Vince