Maze Runner: The Death Cure

I was glad that the "Maze Runner" franchise did not split the story of the final book into two movies, a tactic that worked with "Harry Potter" but nothing else. I was interested in seeing "Maze Runner: The Death Cure" but it wasn't a high priority because the previous films weren't great. I rented this sequel mostly to earn loyalty points in a membership account. I also didn't feel that it was worth re-watching the previous films before seeing this one because the critics didn't rate "The Death Cure" very high. I saw many of the same mistakes with this movie as with its predecessors. The film is very loosely based on its source material so that could be a reason. Then again, "The Death Cure" is a slightly better movie when compared to other two films.

This film franchise started out with a unique premise but it is now fully related to other franchises where rebel teenagers go up against powerful adults. It never helps in the long run to join a fad, especially when its popularity is beginning to wane. The biggest reason why I wanted to see this final film was to learn the fate of Minho. The opening rescue attempt was pretty well created but for a moment, I felt I was being cheated out of a good story. Then we find out that Minho isn't in the train car they took and I was relieved that a big cliffhanger of the last movie wasn't resolved immediately. "The Death Cure" had a more organized narrative structure than "The Scorch Trials" and it contained a few plots twist that I appreciated. Newt's revelation for example gave the sequel some drama. The identity of one of the masked men outside the walls was a surprise for sure but bringing a dead character back to life requires a very plausible explanation. Because we aren't really given one, it feels more like lazy storytelling. That isn't the only example of such writing though. How did they stop the train right where Newt and the others were hiding? Since when is a pool outside of a skyscraper deep enough to be able to jump into? It also was very coincidental that Brenda is forced into a trap at the very location in the city that she was driving to. The mistakes with the story don't stop there. I can almost see the screenwriter writing himself into multiple corners and then using Vince's stolen aircraft to get the characters out each time. I didn't have a problem with that in the opening of the film but by the time you get to the climax, the appearance of the aircraft is excessive and to be expected. At least the climax had us guessing who would survive and/or be rescued. I wonder if Ava and Janson's conversation about the wall around the Last City is a political statement. If so, it wasn't very subtle. I was hoping this film was going to contain some big secret and we are led to believe that but what we get just doesn't satisfy.

Walton Goggins was a new face in this franchise (even if he didn't have much of a face in this show) but I have seen him in other movies before. Each film in the franchise was slightly better than its predecessor but not by much. "Maze Runner: The Death Cure" is quite different from the book it seems but it is hard to say whether that hurt or helped its chances. At least the book wasn't made into two movies because that would have made things worse for sure. I won't be seeing the "Maze Runner" movies again any time soon because of its story problems, a common flaw in all three films.

3 Stars out of 5