Scorching through the movies

“The Maze Runner: Scorch Trials” premiered on September 18 and scorched right through the movie screen. “The Scorch Trials” is the second movie in the “The Maze Runner” series, both of which were adapted from the best-selling books written by James Dashner.

The second movie picks right back up where the first movie left off. Thomas (Dylan O’Brien) and his group of Glader (anyone who lived in the maze is considered a Glader) friends have been rescued from the testing facility and now reside in a heavily guarded and “safe” institution. The Gladers find out that their particular maze wasn’t the only maze and begin to meet brand new faces who have had similar experiences.

Janson (Aiden Giller) is in charge of the mission that rescued Thomas and his group of friends. However, Thomas is still on guard and does not trust Janson or the institution and to add to his suspicions, Thomas is unable to find his female counterpart Teresa (Kaya Scodelario). With the help of another rescued maze habitant, Aris (Jacob Lofland), Thomas discovers that the institution is infact working for the same organization that sent the kids into the maze, WCKD (an organization formed to find a cure for The Flare, a deadly disease that is plaguing the human race).  

Thomas plans to run away with friends Minho (Ki Hong Lee), Newt (Thomas Brodie), FryPan (Dexter Darden), Winston (Alexander Flores) and Aris, but first must find Teresa. Once she’s found, the runaways escape out of the institution and into the scorch, a desert with the possible threat of contracting the Flare, the disease that WCKD is trying to cure, or being killed/turned into a crank, which is a zombie like person who has the Flare. The runaway Gladers hope to find the Right Hand, an organization made to counteract WCKD and save the children that are being tested. Along the way, lives are lost and new alliances are made.

The movie itself contains more action than the first. However, viewers may leave the theatre more confused than ever. The movie does give a little backstory about Teresa and Thomas’ relationship with WCKD before they were sent into the maze, but by the end of the film, viewers may feel as though they are still out of the loop in regards to WCKD’s full intentions for the kids that are being tested.

The acting, on the other hand, is pretty decent. Dylan O’Brien, known from his roles in “The Internship” and the hit T.V. show “Teen Wolf,” does a fantastic job portraying Thomas’ desperation, anger and urgency to try and not just save himself, but his friends as well. Every tear, every scream, every look of pain or hurt that O’Brien portrays, paints a clear and genuine picture for the viewer on how Thomas is feeling at that particular moment. The same goes for Kaya Scodelario. Throughout the entire film, Teresa is plagued by the thought of running away from WCKD, and it’s clearly depicted in the distant looks that Kaya gives to the cameras.

Aiden Giller does an amazing job at making every viewer dislike him on first glance to portray the villain. Many viewers of “Game of Thrones” know that Giller’s character, Lord Baelish, isn’t so trustworthy, and that distrust is transferred right onto the screen of “The Scorch Trials.”

All in all, the acting was above par, and all of the actors portrayed their characters in a way that allowed the viewers to follow along.

“The Scorch Trials” keeps  viewers on their toes, guessing as to what the next scene will entail.  However, the confusing plot took away from the action. Although there was more action in this movie than the first, I felt as though I was pondering over the last bit of information given in each scene, rather than enjoying the running, jumping and fighting that I paid to see.

All things considered, the movie is great to see if in need of an action fix. The story line can be a bit confusing, however, the amount of excitement and activity make up for the decent pot.