Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials

I can only speak for myself, but I am becoming increasingly tired of movies depicting brave teenagers in a post-apocalyptic future fighting against all odds.  We have three film franchises based on Young Adult novels that are currently running and getting nearly annual sequels.  These include The Hunger Games (which wraps up in November), Divergent and now The Maze Runner.  All of these films deal with the same subject matter, and they're starting to blur together.

The world of Young Adult books is large and diverse.  Surely there must be some other ideas out there that filmmakers could make into a franchise.  In all of these stories, there is a young hero who is living in a controlled society in the distant future.  Usually, said society is oppressive and lorded over by a unique few.  Said young hero somehow begins to learn the truth that there is either something rotten going on within the society, or that there is some secret beyond the walls of the city that holds all the answers to how things came to be this way.  There is also usually always a small group of rebels who are fighting against the established order, and the hero or heroine gets wrapped up in the movement.  Sometimes said rebellion is just as bad as the dictators who make the rules in the society, and sometimes there is a betrayal within one of the hero's friends.  Either that, or the friend is forced to turn against them.

Do you see what I am getting at?  A lot of these basic plot points could be used to describe any of the three franchises I listed above.  Are there differences between these series?  Of course.  But not enough to make any of them stand out among each other in my eyes.  The Scorch Trials, the second installment of the Maze Runner story, is the same song and dance.  Maybe the lyrics are a little different, but they're not worth listening to.  While the first movie wasn't anything great, I sort of got into it.  I was intrigued by where the story was possibly going, and looking forward to the answers to the questions the film ended on.  I guess I'll have to wait even longer, as not much is answered in this entry.  The movie takes on a very episodic nature with its storytelling, having its small band of young heroes making their way from one set piece to another.  They battle zombies, explore ancient ruins, run around some dark tunnels, and in the end, all we get is a 20 minute build up for things that will happen in the next movie.

The argument for these movies is usually that they're designed for fans of the books.  However, in this case, returning screenwriter T.S. Nowlin has changed things so much from the source material that some fans on the film's message board over on the IMDB are upset.  I decided to read a synopsis of the book this film is based on, and I was surprised by how much things either got changed or were left out all together.  Instead of advancing the plot or the characters, this movie relies on non-stop action to grab our attention.  But, thanks to the fact that a lot of the major sequences take place at night or in dark rooms, it can be hard to tell exactly what is going on, or what is happening to whom.  The returning characters are not given much screen time, and the new ones who are introduced here don't grab our attention.  Instead of advancing its world or its inhabitants, all this movie does is lift images straight out of other movies, such as Mad Max or The Walking Dead.

I realize I haven't even touched on the film's plot yet.  That's because it won't make the slightest bit of difference to anyone who hasn't read the books or seen the earlier movie.  But, here's the quick version - Young hero Thomas (a very bland Dylan O'Brien) and his group of friends find themselves still under the control of the evil organization that was dominating them in the last film, even after they think they're safe.  They escape into a desert wasteland outside the walls of the militarized base that they're being held in, and have a lot of run ins with zombies and some unsavory characters as they try to track down a rebel movement that is supposedly located somewhere in the mountains.  That's all that really happens, save for the third act, where we get a lot of hasty set up and plot revelations for the third and final film due out in 2017.

My question is will anyone care in two years?  The fans are already voicing their disapproval over the changes made to the story, and I doubt anyone else will be dying to see what happens next.  There's just not enough here to grab out interest.  The villains who oppress the young heroes look and act exactly like the villains in other stories that are similar to it, and the young stars are not given enough of a chance to carry the film.  In this entry, most of the dialogue spoken by the heroes are simple phrases like "Look out!" or "Behind you!".  There's a hint at a romantic relationship for leading man Thomas, but no chemistry or romantic tension is generated by the actors.  Even the third act revelation that one of Thomas' friends has been cooperating with the evil organization seems to be dealt with a shrug rather than the shocking revelation it's intended to be.

With post apocalyptic Sci-Fi teen stories dominating the film landscape of Young Adult fiction, The Scorch Trials would have to really do something different in order to stand out, and it never does.  I'm hoping that once these franchises play out, Hollywood will move onto other stories to try to grab the youth audience.  It would be nice to see an adventure movie about teenagers that doesn't take place in  an oppressive and devastated world is all I'm saying.

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