Maze Runner: The Death Cure is a 2018 action/sci-fi film directed by Wes Ball and is based on the novel The Death Cure written by James Dashner. Death Cure is the third and final film in the Maze Runner series of films, and takes place after the events of the prior film, The Scorch Trials. The film stars Dylan O’Brien, Ki Hong Lee, Kaya Scodelario, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Aidan Gillen, Rosa Salazar, Giancarlo Esposito, and a spew of others. The story follows Thomas and what’s left of his friends who go out on a rescue mission to save their fellow glader, Minho and hopefully stop what is left of the evil corporation WCKD.
So after what was considered one of the most polarizing films in any series, The Scorch Trials, it seems that the Maze Runner series is finally taking a turn for the better. Although this film had some major flaws and was nowhere near as stellar as the first film, Death Cure definitely fixes some of its major issues and wraps up a story that a lot of us have just forgotten about. Although I was a huge fan of the first film, this was never a series of films that I had been dying to see either. Does that mean this film sucked? Well.. there’s a lot to it..
So first of all Death Cure is full of some of the best young talent in Hollywood. For starters, Dylan O’Brien and Thomas Brodie-Sangster are utterly fantastic in this film. These two not only have the chops for acting, but their chemistry throughout this film is what really kept me going. Each of their characters have so much depth to them, and I loved the way this film centered itself on their friendship. On the other side of things, Aiden Gillen’s character was basically the same as all of his other roles, and Rosa Salazar was surprisingly good. I guess you could say I’m really excited to see where she takes her character the upcoming 2018 film, Alita.
As for the story? It really predicable, and I mean really predictable. The originality that was seen in the first film, and the mediocrity that we got in the second movie seemed to form together to give us a decent and predictable story for the final film. There is so much more to the story that could have been added, and common tropes that could have been avoided, but that really wasn’t the case for this final installment. The only good part about this film’s story was the character’s interactions between each other, but for the most part I could have wrote a better screenplay on the back of a used sticky note in an hour or so.
The mediocrity doesn’t stop there as this film’s sound design and soundtrack are honestly just forgettable. The soundtrack doesn’t really provide any true emotion, and is as bland as bland could get. The theme of mediocrity continues on with the film’s visuals. Although there are some surprising practical sets and practical stunts, the film’s VFX work isn’t something to go home and write about (unless you’re me). I had a really hard time trying to get myself to feel invested in the world, but its lack of detail and bland set design left me thinking that this place is incredibly unbelievable. Although the city in this film was pretty it didn’t feel lived in, and because of that I had a really hard time trying to connect with the setting.
To wrap things up, this film is no where even close to the first film’s greatness, and the second film’s dreadfulness. I guess you could say this film is somewhere in the middle of the road. On one hand you have some great performances by some great actors, and on the other you have one of the most boring and predictable stories that Hollywood has ever seen.. and then somewhere in between all that you have its visuals and sounds, but that’s not important. What is important, however, is that this is the final film in a series that has done.. decent at the box office. Although neither of the sequel films were able to capture the awe of the first film, Death Cure takes a step in the right direction. With that being said, I decided to give Maze Runner: The Death Cure an “Alright” on theVade Review Bar. Another mediocre ending to series of films with potential lost somewhere in the maze of Hollywood’s dying obsession with young adult films.
