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Category: Maze Runner: The Death Trials

MAZE RUNNER: THE DEATH TRIALS

Director:  Wes Ball

Year of Release:  2018

Somebody told me a while ago that they thought this was one of Aidan’s best films, I was polite, but what I wanted to say was haven’t you seen Treacle Jnr, Still, You’re Ugly Too, Sing Street, Low Down (one of my personal favourites). I could go on, but I suppose everyone has different tastes. 

To me, this is the worst of the three films, I know that diminishing returns are often the plague of trilogies, but as this was based on a series of books, I did expect a more, thoughtful climax.

Even the opening sequence is a little jarring, there is no real reference as to how much time has passed since the Scorch Trials, all the more surprising as the second film kicked off immediately after the first.  The script is lacking any real spark, it is almost like everyone is just going through the motions.  Basic plot, Thomas has to go back to the bad guy’s HQ to rescue his friend who was captured at the end of the last film. 

Add, what to me is a bit of a weird ‘love triangle’ and a gang of ‘revolutionaries, (one of which is a character from the first film who is totally absent in the second), who help Thomas, but have their own agenda, and that’s about it.  This could be all wrapped up in 90 minutes but here it is stretched to 2 hours 20 minutes. Rather long for a movie aimed at the young adult market.

As with the Scorch Trials, some of the landscapes are pretty impressive, and the opening set piece in particular is action packed, but nothing that we haven’t seen done many times before.

Aidan gets even less to do here, and as he plays a bad guy, I am sure you can guess how it ends, although by that time I cannot say even I was that bothered. He does do a fair amount of running, always like to see Aidan running for some reason, and there are some pretty tense scenes towards the end which are fairly good.

 A little bit of pointless trivia, there is an exchange he has will Thomas which I swear mirrors word for word a conversation Aidan’s character Bill has with Arthur (Charlie Hunnam) in King Arthur.  I have no clue what his characters motivations are here, other than to survive, there is nothing to flesh Jensen out, and, I will say it again, I really don’t know what made him do it.  It’s not like it’s a change from what he has done before, after years on Game of Thrones I could understand if it was a character far removed from Lord Baelish, but it is just more of the same, without the charisma. 

This is a film that I would say is for completists only, if you do want to own it, I would suggest buying the box set, pick a rainy day and binge watch the whole thing.  Then add it to your collection and never watch it again!