Though dystopia fatigue may have had something to do with it, I couldn’t help but come away from “The Scorch Trials,” the adaptation of the second novel in the “Maze Runner” series, feeling weary. Sure, I knew that a sense of “Been-There, Done-That” would hang over it what with “The Hunger Games” and “Divergent” already occupying most of the brain space I’ve allotted for derivative YA fiction (it was all I could do to remind myself I was not in Panem, a ravaged version of Chicago or the Australian outback). Yet, director Wes Ball was able to help me push these concerns aside last year with “The Maze Runner,” a well made and at times exciting film that dangled just enough tantalizing, unanswered questions to keep me engaged throughout.
Nothing new under the apocalyptic sun here and the tedium’s made worse by one artificially contrived diversion after another. There’s two too many zombie attacks, three too many stops at faux civilizations and I lost count of the times horribly filmed gun battles broke out. Had a key character or two died along the way or a major plot twist ensued, I might have been able to forgive the film’s wheel-spinning nature. Unfortunately, by the time “Scorch’s” inevitable ending finally arrived, I felt as though I had been with Thomas every step of the way. I don’t think this was the sort of vicarious experience Ball and his crew had in mind. The fact that I am now dreading the final chapter of the “Maze Runner” saga is an unfortunate side-effect of this piece of misguided filmmaking.
For a full review, go to: http://www.news-gazette.com/arts-entertainment/local/2015-09-24/chuck-koplinski-grandma-excels.html