Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials Review (2015)

Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials

  I read all three Maze Runner books before the first movie came out, so as you can imagine, I was very much looking forward to The Scorch Trials release. That being said, when the first trailer came out, I was highly concerned. The plot looked completely different from the book––and I'm not talking about Harry Potter different either. I'm talking about Eragon different. Anyway, my family saw the movie before me and said it was the best they'd seen in a long time. Meanwhile critics gave it pretty low ratings, only a 50% out of 100% on rotten tomatoes. Honestly, I had no idea what to expect, so I went in expecting nothing. What did I think? 

  I think that Scorch Trials was one of the worst book to movie adaptations I've seen since Percy Jackson. From the very beginning, instead of following the book's excellent story, it completely rips off the first half of Michael Bay's The Island. And trust me, The Island isn't the only thing that gets ripped off. What was once a unique YA story has now been turned into generic dystopian soup mixed in with a little bit of Divergent, Ender's Game, Hunger Games, Mad Max, Lord of the Flies, and World War Z. If you think this sounds like an awesome mix, maybe this movie is for you. Personally, I wanted to see something fresh, not a sequel rehashing the same beats as the first movie.
  Not only am I disappointed with the storytelling, but I'm disappointed with the character development. Due to a specific subplot in the next book (which they may due away with completely), it was important that we get to really know Minho and Newt. But no. Thomas is the only character given proper screen time while everyone else we could literally care less about. Ugh. 

  There are so many things I could talk about; the cringe worthy dialogue, the vomit inducing shaky cam, the CGI zombies/cranks used in the end half, the fact that Teresa was even in the movie, the fact that the Right Arm was in the movie. There are just so many things wrong with this plot that are really detrimental to the third book. Things that just can't be overlooked.
  I know a lot of people who never read the book liked this movie, so I don't want to rain on their parade. I just find it frustrating that they so brazenly strayed away from the fairly well-written source material. Honestly I have no idea how they are gonna tie up loose ends for the third movie.
  All that to say, does Scorch Trails have entertainment value? Most of the people who watched it would say absolutely yes. Would I have liked it if I'd never read the book? Maybe. I probably would have loved it when I was younger. For those reasons, I give it a 4 out of 10 stars. (Watch If Free)