Maze Runner: The Death Cure

The young adult novel craze was in full swing for years thanks mostly to franchise like Twilight and The Hunger Games. Released in 2014, The Maze Runner got off to a quick start with an intriguing mystery about a group of teenagers being trapped in the middle of a deadly maze, but the story has only gotten progressively worse as the reasoning behind everything begin to unfold. The Scorch Trials only complicated things by adding zombies into the mix rather than providing the answers we really wanted. Now three years later due to an accident involving leading actor Dylan O’Brien that led to a year-long delay in production, The Death Cure is finally here, and it aims to wrap up all the mysteries of the franchise. Unfortunately, there’s no answer satisfying enough to make up for a disappointing end to what could have been an interesting trilogy.


After having their friends kidnapped by WCKD at the end of The Scorch Trials, Thomas (Dylan O’Brien) and the remaining Gladers have devised a plan to strike back at the corporation and rescue Minho and the others from their experiments. Their goal is to infiltrate the Last City, a WCKD stronghold and their center of operations, but in order to get in their going to need a little help from a group of resistance fighters. At the center of the city are their friends but also all the answers Thomas has been searching for since that day he entered the maze.


Since it’s been so long since the last Maze Runner film was release it’s a good idea to refresh yourself with the two previous films beforehand because The Death Cure jumps straight into the action with a rather well choreographed train rescue attempt. Unfortunately the film is downhill from there thanks lackluster action, dull dialogue, and one plot hole after another.


My biggest complaint about the film comes from the fact that it is revealed that Thomas is the key to everything as his blood can cure the virus that is turning people into zombies or whatever they are. To me, that makes no sense at all because it was WCKD themselves who put Thomas inside the maze in the first place in order to find a cure. You’d think they’d test his blood beforehand, right? Apparently not. Having Thomas be the cure, aside from being completely obvious in the first place, essentially discredits the entirely of the franchise and makes WCKD this inept corporation rather than the so-called saviors they strive to be.


It’s exhausting to watch The Death Cure go through all the motions of your standard YA adaptation, especially given the fact that the film already feels quite dated because of its delay. There’s nothing particularly exciting about the action and any mystery garnered by the first film is completely erased. In its place is just another forgettable teen dystopian film.


If you want to watch a bunch of people made glaringly stupid decisions for two hours and 22 minutes, then by all means go see Maze Runner: The Death Cure. Despite the letdown that was The Scorch Trials, I was still curious in seeing how The Death Cure would tie everything together, after all, I did enjoy the original The Maze Runner. I now regret that decision. It’s a disappointing end to what could have been an interesting franchise.

Matt Rodriguez
Review by Matt Rodriguez
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