Review of Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018) by Jeremiah D — 28 Jan 2018

As far as young adult adaptations go, this series went off to a great start IMO. For one thing, it didn't dwell on some forced romantic aspect, which sets it apart from the litter of young adult adaptations being released in quick succession. With mush out of the way, the movie put emphasis on the sci-fi aspect. What we got was a fascinating introduction to a fresh mythology.

At least that's what I thought when the first movie ended. The sequel was such a letdown. Apparently the world outside the maze was something we are all overly familiar with. Another post apocalyptic world overrun by a variation of zombies. An effect of another virus that would eventually wipe out humanity. The first movie felt fresh and original. The sequel was the complete opposite. Derivative and boring as f*ck.

After that sequel, I didn't really feel like watching the third movie. But since it's the finale, I figured I might as well find out what happens to these characters.

First, one positive point: It's definitely a huge improvement over the second movie. I remember getting bored to death while watching that one, and I was debating whether or not I should sit through the end and do something more worthwhile instead. I didn't get bored with this movie. Something was always happening, though at times there were too many things happening that it did feel bloated- it could sure use some tighter editing. I've never read the source material though. Maybe they wanted to pack as much into two short hours to please the fans of the novels. Maybe they should have made the movie longer so it didn't feel as if it jumped from scene to scene quite haphazardly.

But overall, the whole mythology just isn't compelling enough. We've seen all these scenarios dozens of times before. There's not much that sets it apart from other movies in the same genre, some of which have tackled this sort of story line better. It's not a bad movie, and all those stunts and special effects showed that they did not scrimp on this movie's budget. But at this point, this movie would only interest fans and those people who've liked the first two movies. Everyone else will be left yearning for something more.