Nick Stomberg ’18

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I recently saw Maze Runner: Scorch Trials.

Wes Ball (the Director) did an amazing job. His ways of creating suspense and inhuman-like features throughout the movie are a must-see. This movie is the second of the Maze Runner series, with the first grossing over $100 million in the US alone, turning quite a profit for a film that cost $36 million to make.

The movies are based on the best-selling books by James Dashner.  The first film revolves around a maze that teenagers are placed in that is seemingly inescapable. In the center of the maze is a field where the teens build a habitat and live.

The main character, Thomas, arrives in the maze from an elevator shaft and has no memory of his past. After a long journey in which he and other teenagers escape from the maze, the movie ends with men in helicopters taking them away to what they are told is a safe haven.

When the second movie opens, the teenagers are being transported into what appears to be a fortress of some type. The second movie is about their finding out who put them in the maze and what is happening in the world. The setting is in a run-down city that is seemingly uninhabited. Few survive in the city, but the few that do seem to prosper. In the larger world a war rages.

When Thomas finds out what this fortress is doing and who is running it, he makes his escape. The film ends with Thomas finding the mysterious . . . A definite cliffhanger, surely a great starting point for the third film.

Both films star the new and upcoming Dylan O’Brien, who plays his role very well in both films. Surprisingly, the film does not have the actors or actresses you would expect in such a film. For most of the actors, this is their first big movie.  I definitely recommend seeing Scorch Trials. If you enjoyed the first movie, you will enjoy this sequel, too.