The Maze Runner: The Death Cure

We haven’t had much luck recently when it comes to Young Adult trilogy closers. Since the triumphant close to the Harry Potter series the quality has significantly dipped from The Hunger Games: Mockingjay double bill which just felt a little lacklustre, to the Divergent series' final film Allegiant being completely cancelled altogether. The Maze Runner has posited itself as the closest competitor to The Hunger Games in recent times but itself ran into bad luck when it came to its ending with star Dylan O’Brien involved in an on-set accident which delayed release by a year (The Scorch Trials was a 2015 release.) Certainly worth catching up with the first two in the series before heading to the cinema for trilogy ender The Maze Runner: The Death Cure then; especially as Director Wes Ball deigns to throw us straight into the action, six months after The Scorch Trial’s climactic events with no explanatory voice over, flashbacks or title cards. Said action sequence though is fantastic with a breathless, Bond-esque train rescue by our survivors of The Glade. From here the pace doesn’t let up, even with a two hour-plus running time. It seems, much like its predecessor, to be one endless chase/escape and rescue mission. This is actually a plus point, with less pauses for breath to discuss the actual meat and potatoes of the plot which, whilst suitably apocalyptic with its airborne virus, ‘Cranks’ (read; zombies) and 'immunes' has plot holes tantamount to a chasm (why the hell wouldn’t these scientists test the youngster’s blood before creating the super-complicated mazes?!) There are, inevitably, plenty of thematic similarities to its other YA brethren but should be praised for its ballsy decisions as far as major deaths and plot twists go. No spoilers here but be prepared for some surprises that aren’t too common in movies of this type. From my understanding, the movies have deviated fairly heavily from James Dashner’s source material which is sure to cause ire with fans of the literary versions but serve the films well; it’s well paced, frenetic action with a group of characters that you can really root for. There’s no intimate character backgrounds just a tight-knit core who compliment each other well. It’s a shame here though that arguably the strongest of the group; Minho, is relegated to the character in need of being rescued which significantly cuts his screen time. This is made up for somewhat, though, with the return of a famous familiar face. It also tries a little too hard to set its stall out firmly in the ‘Adult’ section of ‘Young Adult.’ The horror-leaning elements are certainly welcome, but the jump scares a little obvious, and having EVERY character, in EVERY dangerous situation exclaim ‘sh*t!’ is totally ripe for mockery; a Death Cure drinking game would serve to get you good and drunk. On the whole though, a thoroughly entertaining trilogy closer to a thoroughly entertaining and consistent series. It’s been a pleasure to see out Thomas’ story and, in the coming years, The Maze Runner should be looked on with fondness. 4 stars ****