Review of Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018) by Sinead K — 28 Jan 2018

"Maze Runner: The Death Cure" (PG-13, 2:22) is the third film (after 2014 and 2015) in the "Maze Runner" trilogy, directed by Wes Ball and based on James Daschner's YA novel series of the same name. The long time between the release of the previous film and this one is largely due to star Dylan O'Brien suffering a serious injury on set in 2016, pushing back production almost exactly a year and doing the same to the release date. Before seeing this one, I went back and read summaries of the first two... because 2015 was a while ago... and I found the first two kinda forgettable. But... what about this one?

Thomas (O'Brien) is back as the young man leading a group of rebels through a dystopian future in which a corporation called WCKD uses human experimentation to research a possible cure to a world-wide plague which turns people into zombies. Thomas' main goal throughout the movie is to rescue a fellow experimentation victim named Minho (Ki Hong Lee) from WCKD's clutches. If Thomas is to be successful, he'll need the help of his friends (Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Dexter Darden, Rose Salazar and others) and they'll have to go up against WCKD's leader (Patricia Clarkson), her henchman (Aidan Gillen) and the young doctor (Kaya Scodelario) who was once a friend to Thomas and company.

This movie doesn't skimp on the action and the stakes in every scene are high. It's true that you don't have to see the first two to appreciate this one, but it helps... and it makes it more likely that you'll see this for the satisfying conclusion that it is... even if the whole thing still suffers in comparison to the "Hunger Games" and "Divergent" films. Still, "Maze Runner: The Death Cure" isn't half bad. "B".