This sequel to The Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials is a far bigger and ballsier effort than its predecessor – where the original’s Young Adult book roots were all too obvious, this second film feels like a full-on adult action flick.
The story starts just seconds after the end of The Maze Runner with our ‘gladers’ – including Dylan O’Brien, Thomas Brodie-Sangster and Kaya Scodelario – plucked to apparent safety by Aidan Gillen and his band of well-armed heavies.
As this is the middle entry in a trilogy you’ll have guessed that things aren’t quite that straightforward and it’s not long before our youthful adventurers are once again on the run from WCKD.
Their journey across a ruined, apocalyptic landscape culminates in the discovery of their foe’s ultimate game-plan, a reasonably well played betrayal and a setup for what we assume to be the final confrontation between Thomas (O’Brien) and WCKD head honcho Ava Paige (Patricia Clarkson).
© 2015 Twentieth Century Fox.
The plot suffers from the curse of all trilogy middle-entries of having to move events on from the first film and set up the final chapter while also trying to tell a distinct story which won’t leave audiences feeling shortchanged.
So it’s a shame that Wes Ball opts not to show how our heroes escape a couple of near-miss moments but instead takes refuge in a couple of odd edits which leap past mini cliff-hangers and asks his audience to just be happy things turned out fine even if we don’t quite know how that happened.
Picky viewers might also spot that a couple of key plot developments are shamelessly hung on nothing but sheer co-incidence but probably no more so than your average Bond film.
However there’s no escaping from the fact that Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials is a decently paced, enjoyable and well acted CGI-fest which its target audience will love.
In cinemas from September 10th.