This movie wasn’t so much of a drag, in fact, it was actually really good, but there was some things that could be improved upon, such as: the probability of this apocalypse ever happening in our lifetime, or even in the near future, the chances are really low. The whole turnout of the movie felt like it was more of a terrifying chase scene set on repeat over and over again, but there was some solid cases of humor slipped in between conversations and battles to reach the Right Arm.

I had to admit, when I first read the Maze Runner Saga, I got bored in the middle of each book and had to force myself to finish them. However, when I first saw the trailer for “The Maze Runner”, my interest pricked up ever-so-slightly and I grew hopeful that perhaps the franchise won’t be a miss but rather a big hit.

Thomas (Dylan O’Brien), basks in the light of taking the lead role once again, and it looks like fan-favorites Minho (Ki Hong Lee), Newt (Thomas Broodie Sangster), and Teresa (Kaya Scodelario) look at Thomas to lead the way and give them very little light to shed in the movie. Additional characters enter the story line; Aris (Jacob Lofland) the only boy from Group B, Jorge (Giancarlo Esposito), who is supposed to be a young Hispanic, but is older looking than my grandfather and Brenda (Rosa Salazar), his genius sidekick with a trigger happy finger, all join to finish the movie with strong ties to the main characters.

While director Wes Ball did as well on the special effects of this movie, as he did with the first; tricking the eyes that our future will be faced with super-storms and lightning that is as destructive as it is in real life, that the Cranks resembled black-veined tree dryads that snarl like World War Z zombies and risk their necks to climb up broken skyscrapers, all for two annoying dark-haired teens.

In a plot as repetitive as it was in the book, Ball made the thrill of the chase as exciting as the 75th Annual Hunger Games, the Quarter Quell. In other words, it was both intriguing and intense as our favorite characters of this story, ran…ran…and ran some more. He made it gripping as he threw in obedient W.C.K.D. (World In Catastrophe, Killzone Experiment Department) soldiers who really, by now, should’ve realized that they work for a corrupted organization who wanted to “harvest” children for their brains. Also throwing in the mix, Janson (Aidan Gillen), A.K.A. the Rat Man on a helicopter as he speaks through a megaphone along with our favorite friends, the Cranks, chasing the teenagers at every given opportunity.

Though the movie did not follow the original story line, leaving fans scratching their heads in confusion, and in the end, it was Minho who was taken back to the place where our dearly beloved main characters had tried so hard to escape from, all to retrieve their footsteps to save their friend as he faces an unknown, but unconscious future in the evil hands of Chancellor Ava Paige (Patricia Clarkson).

In highly intense scenes, where viewers grab the edges of their seats in the anticipation of Cranks jumping out of the dark below, they might start to wonder if perhaps this content is appropriate for younger teens as they dream of a terrifying dystopian future where they’ll be chased by an organization called World in Catastrophe, Killzone Experiment Department, created just to see what makes them different. Parents will wonder if the content will be suitable for little John or tiny Bertha, because the word, Killzone, does not sound pleasant for those who haven’t read the books.

Overall, the whole movie flew by quickly and before viewers knew it, it was over and as far as fans know, “The Death Cure” is scheduled to be released February 2017, a painstakingly long time to wait. Although uncertain if it’ll be split into two movies as the Twilight Saga and the Hunger Games Trilogy were, fans everywhere cross their fingers and pray to the Hollywood gods that “The Death Cure” won’t, for hope that the franchise won’t be drawn out like those two had been.

Both movies felt like the directors and producers are just postponing the true point of the story until the inevitable happens, but for all, we hope they can get to the point in the third, and hopefully final movie. We fans hope that the next movie(s) will as good as the sequel, but with slightly more developed morals than just mindless murder of zombies and enemies.

by CHRISTINA VASILENKO