If you’re looking for tips on how to barricade a door, then look no further than “The Scorch Trials”.
With not one, but three instances of door barricading (all occurring within the first 30 minutes, it seems), a traditional zombie trope and the most diverse group of teenagers you’ve seen since the cover of a college catalogue, “The Scorch Trials” is trying so hard it hurts.
In this second installment of “The Maze Runner” series based on the novels by James Dasher, Thomas (Dylan O’Brien) and company have escaped the maze and are in the real world—where unfortunately things don’t seem to be going well. A virus called the Flare is slowly and terribly turning everyone into crazed zombies, while the World Catastrophe: Killzone Department (WCKD for short) does what they can to find a cure, but at what cost?
Unfortunately for “The Scorch Trials”, all the blood and gore in the world can’t save a bad script full of hollow speeches and comedic relief that makes you cringe. When this exchange: “What happened to me?” “You were hit by lightning” [pause] “Oh” is the scene that draws the loudest laughs from the audience; it hits you hard that this is not an action movie with a side of comedy à la “Guardians of the Galaxy.”
The more I thought about it, though, the more I realized that might not be such a bad thing. Sure, the script and acting leave a lot to be desired, but this isn’t a movie vying for Oscar status, and no one is pretending it’s a comedy for the ages, either. For what it is—another teen franchise movie with above average-looking heroes living in a dystopian society—“The Scorch Trials” doesn’t do too badly. The zombies are frightening-looking, the fights scenes are fun and there were more than enough moments that made me jump.
For book readers: it was a big departure, but not all bad. Just don’t expect the film to follow the original plot more than loosely, and try not to resent the fact that even with your book-reading knowledge, you will have no more idea of what’s going to happen next than the clueless person who accompanied you to the theater.
As long as you go in with the right set of expectations, I promise you won’t be tempted to walk out. It’s a mindless teen action movie, and that has its place. Just don’t go if you’re sick of zombies. Or of watching people build (mostly ineffectual) barricades.
3/5 STARS