Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015) Dir: Wes Ball

Instagram post:

https://www.instagram.com/p/DNf7oIvtjTI/?igsh=Ym9weGZxNGNlenJ5

This, the second film in Wes Ball's blockbuster sci-fi trilogy, based on the young adult fiction books by James Dashner, has been sat on my watchlist for nearly a decade now - pretty much since it came out. I had put off watching it for far too long, in part, because I had heard how poor it was supposed to be. Finally, I decided it was time to get through it, for better or worse.

Visually, this film reeked of the Hollywood obsession with using CGI instead of practical effects. There were so many aspects which would've looked better if physical effects had been use. This applied to the 'cranks' more than anything, because their CGI looked particularly awful. Even the cinematography left me disappointed; it was just so bland and boring.

The dialogue was a joke. It told the audience literally everything, and didn't allow them to work out anything on their own. It was the cinematic equivalent of spoon-feeding. The worst thing about it was that it wasn't remotely subtle. This, combined with the constant useless lines of dialogue - the question 'are you okay?' was asked in almost every scene at least once, made for a frustrating viewing experience. This screenplay had so much fat that needed trimming.

The story diverted significantly from the book it was based on, and instead turned half of the film into essentially a very lazy and rushed zombie film. Some of the events felt so disconnected from each other, it actually made it quite a jarring film to watch. Things weren't helped by the lacklustre character writing, especially for the new characters, none of whom had any real personality.

Dylan O'Brien's leading performance was nothing to shout home about. He seemed to have less charisma and less personality than in the first film, which was a great disappointment. Whether it was a bad shoot or just an actor knowing the script is bad, this was not a very good display from O'Brien. His co-star, Kaya Scodelario wasn't much better, unfortunately. She did at least show a little personality, albeit in spite of the film, rather than because of it.

The most notable supporting performance came from Giancarlo Esposito, albeit that was mainly because of the man's natural flair and screen presence. His actual character was written very lazily and inconsistent. The likes of Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Ki Hong Lee, and Dexter Darden, who had had fairly prominent roles in the last film, were now relegated to empty revolving faces in the background of scenes with no real personality or direction.

The film wanted to convince the audience to care about Rosa Salazar's newly introduced character, but failed to make her stand out in the slightest. As such, the actress was put in a rather lose-lose situation, especially when compared to Scodelario, in terms of their roles in the film. Meanwhile, the pair of Patricia Clarkson and Aidan Gillen provided the most unforgettable antagonistic duo I've seen in some time. They had nothing beyond corny dialogue and forced facial expressions.

Overall, I think I've made it fairly obvious that this was a very substandard film. It lacked basic writing proficiency, captivated visuals, or even any particularly enjoyable action sequences. It felt bland, bloated, and like a very sorry adaptation of a popular young adult novel. I hope the third film is more entertaining, because this second one was a real slog.