Maze Runner: The Death Cure

In the history of Hollywood films, we have seen a plethora of franchises, and then there have been several franchises with a teen angst as its center: The Twilight Saga, The Divergent Saga, even The Harry Potter Saga. Now we have the third and last of The Maze Runner Saga entitled "Maze Runner: The Death Cure". Is this the end or could there be yet another?

 

In the epic finale to The Maze Runner Saga, Thomas (Dylan O'Brien) and his group of escaped Gladers including Newt (Thomas Brodie Sangster), Brenda (Rosa Salazar), Frypan (Dexter Darden) and Aris (Jacob Lofland) on their final and most dangerous mission yet. To save their friends, they must break into the legendary last city, a WCYD controlled labyrinth that may turn out to be the deadliest maze of all. Anyone who makes it out alive will get the answers to the questions the Gladers have been asking since they first arrived in the maze. Will Thomas and the crew make it out alive? Or will Ava Paige (Patricia Clarkson) and Janson (Aidan Gillen) get their way?

 

Others to round out the cast are Ki Hong Lee as Minho, Kaya Scodelario as Teresa, Will Poulter as Gally, Giancarlo Esposito as Jorge, Barry Pepper as Vince, Nathalie Emmanuel as Harriet, Katherine McNamara as Sonya and Walter Goggins as Lawrence.

 

This was intensely directed by Wes Ball ("The Maze Runner" '14, "Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials" '15) plus shorts. As with this films' predecessors, this quite literally cuts to chase practically from frame one. It kind of is reminiscent of the matinee idol days of film where the swashbuckler came to save the day, so as with this, these characters are on edge from beginning to end. It was effectively written by T.S Nowlin ("The Maze Runner" '14, "Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials" '15, "Phoenix Forgotten" '17). Certainly writing the other installments of this franchise has only caused this to be as effective as it was. Being a film based on a novel geared to the teenager mindset, this has a certain amount of predictability and schmaltzy lines, but, in this case, this actually helped this film--it was the elements that kept the audience on the edge of their proverbial seats. As this film was unfolding, as with its predecessors, we were rooting for these young adults all the way to the films' end. So, although Nowlin could've been a bit more creative--plot wise, his way of writing it is what made this script work. If you like his brand of writing, "Pacific Uprising" is completed for a release date this year and "Godzilla vs. Kong" has been announced for a 2020 release. The visual effects cleverly designed by Weta Digital actually enhanced the storyline instead of just filling in places where storyline dropped off as with other similar films.

 

As aforementioned, will there be another Maze Runner? I realize that this is supposed to be the third and last installment, but it leaves us fairly open-ended where it could go either way. If it didn't continue, I suspect it would be for that O'Brien has certainly been a very busy actor lately. But who knows? Grab the popcorn and enjoy this two hour plus fluff.

 

Out of 4 Stars: 3                                   Rated: PG-13                                        131mins.