The Maze Runner: Death Cure Concludes Its Popular Trilogy in A Fashion That's Both Respectable And Honorable

   Movies based on best selling books are hard to transfer to the big screen. In most cases, these films fail to live up to the standard set by the source material. The ones that rarely succeed are either successful as their own standalone stories, or become sizable enough hits to generate their own franchises of films. The latter ended up being the case for The Maze Runner series with the first film performing well enough with audiences to spawn two sequels with The Scorch Trials, and the much-anticipated conclusion to the storyline titled Death Cure. Greenlighted at a time where The Hunger Games series was at it's prime in terms of being huge hits both critically and financially, Hollywood looked for every type of story with similar narrative structures to bring to the big screen in hopes of generating similar levels of success from box office and critical misfires such as The Giver to series that began strong but ended in disappointment such as the Divergent series. With The Maze Runner, the end result was being a low-level hit at the box office despite mixed reviews, that pushed its team to produce three full movies with the end result being diminishing box office returns despite the overall arc of the trilogy becoming more interesting. With Death Cure, The Maze Runner series comes to its fitting yet somewhat uneven conclusion, that wraps up its three film story arc in a matter that proves to be fairly satisfying for fans of the series.

      The third installment of The Maze Runner trilogy sees its plot focusing on the leaders of the surviving Gladers (Played effectively by Dylan O' Brien, Thomas BrodieSangster and Dexter Darden) fighting to free the teenage victims of unethical medical experiments designed to find a cure for a zombie virus. The first Maze Runner wasn't anything groundbreaking by any means but it was effective in setting up the main characters, as well as the atmosphere and tone of the story. The audience didn't know much about what was happening outside the Maze until the films third act with the first two acts successfully setting up the films characters and themes. The second Maze Runner surprised as being a stronger film than its predecessor with the audience knowing more about the zombie virus, as well as the powers at be who are using the kids as experiments to find the cure. Whereas the first Maze Runner left things rather vague but created a mysterious yet exciting atmosphere with a sense of urgency to it, the second takes it all to the next level with a darker and more mature storyline that contained even more action while shedding the mystery of the previous film. Death Cure doesn't possess the mystery of the first film, but takes the action of the second and gives audiences more of it while working tirelessly to present a bloated yet fitting end to the franchise. While fans of the previous two films will accept the conclusion that the filmmakers deliver to them in most cases, newer audiences will not understand Death Cures story as it's required that they watch the previous two films prior to this one to fully understand and potentially enjoy it, whereas those were strong enough to be watched on their own respectably unlike this one. The key to enjoying this trilogy is that fans must catch the story from the beginning to understand the plot, as well as grow connected with the characters in order to understanding their motives here. Of the three Maze Runner films, Death Cure provides the weakest installment of the trilogy, but still manages to provide enough action and character development to end the series with a reasonable ounce of dignity. However, no one who didn't catch the previous two Maze Runner films will enjoy this movie nor understand it without getting the full grasp of the story.

      One of the strongest elements of the trilogy thus far has lied within the performances of it's main cast. The young actors go a long way with adding much believability and tension to the films story with Dylan O' Brien once again delivering a terrific performance as the Gladers main group leader Thomas. Brien brings the same likable and sympathetic performance to the part with his character showing true progression from where the story began along with proving to be a fitting young lead, who manages to make his character both a strong and relatable one. The same can be said for Kaya Scodelario as Teresa with the audience left questioning her characters actions with the end of Scorched
Trials. Her chemistry with Brien remains strong and on point with the audience caring about their relationship. Thomas Brodie-Sangster once again steals the show and gives the main leads a run for their money as Thomas friend and partner Newt. His character has been one of the main highlights of the first two films in terms of casting with his performance here being no exception. His character carries his strongest and most emotional arc of all three films in Death Cure. Ki Hong Lee does well playing Minho, glader and former keeper of the runners of Goup A, who becomes Thomas best friend throughout the course of the series as he joined him to escape WICKER'S attempts to restore their memories along with saving the immunes from the maze. Will Poutler reprises his role from the first film as Gally, one of the head members of the running team, that was against Thomas from the start and saw him as trouble for the maze group. His characters transformation at the end of the first film to his surprise appearance here, proves to be both a genuine and slick surprise for the audience. Rosa Salazar from Alita: Battle Angel continues to impress as Brenda, a member of Thomas group who helps him, Minho, and Newt escape from WICKED'S headquarters. As for the older actors, Breaking Bad's Giancarlo Esposito returns from the second film as Thomas ally Jorge, leader of a group of rebels the Gladers met in The Scorch Trials. Game Of Thrones Aidan Gillen also reprises his role as Janson from the second Maze Runner with him, the assistant director of WICKED with Gillen continuing to chew up the scenery as one of the films main antagonists. Patricia Clarkson also shines as Ava, the trilogies central villain who happens to be the chancellor of WICKED as well as being the one responsible for both managing and organizing the search for a cure to the virus called Flare with her tactics including the sending of young teenagers into the Maze to study the minds of the immune. Other notable supporting roles are Barry Pepper as another ally of Thomas and the group Vince, Nathalie Emmanuel as Harriet, and Jacob Lofland as Ari's. One of the strongest elements of The Maze Runner trilogy has always been the type of actors the filmmakers choose to play the characters in the stories as everyone not only works well off each other, but demonstrate strong chemistry along with strength as an ensemble. The performances play a huge part in why the series was able to make it as far as it has on film with Death Cure being the emotionally fitting finale that the story requires it to be.

      In terms of the films directing, Wes Ball who helmed the previous two films in the series, returns to the directors chair once again and films this one much in a similar fashion that he directed the first two. He keeps the tone dark like The Scorch Trials and the action intense like that film with steady pacing. Much like the previous two films, the special effects are both well-done and handled with the fight scenes being intense, thrilling, and well-filmed with solid cinematography. The films score by John Paesano, who also helmed the previous installments in the series, proves to be both solid and effective with the music enhancing the action and adventure aspects of the story, along with the drama. The films editing makes this the longest installment of the series clocking in at 142 minutes with the expectation being that the series gets its explosive and grand finale with the third film. The films long running time also keeps in line with each previous film expanding its length significantly as more subplots and character moments are thrown at the audience on top of the action. The films visual effects and set designs are impressive with the film carrying a dystopian setting, that consists largely of glass and steel with scenes taking place within long corridors and laboratories with the intention of giving audiences the symbolic feeling that the characters are trapped in a maze again. What's most interesting about the series is how each film carried with them a distinct look and appearance with the first movie being a maze full of mostly cement and ruins with the second heavily consisting of sand and rust. The films set decoration and costume design both prove to be successful in terms of selling this world to the audience, while giving Death Cure a life of it's own. Overall, Wes Ball does a solid job with helming the picture with its main issue being that the movie is longer than it needs to be. Despite that, he brings the same kind of energy, enthusiasm, and passion for concluding this story that he had directing the previous two films. His work ensures that Death Cure comes out looking like a gorgeous film visually regardless of the quality of the script.

      The films screenplay by T.S. Nowlin who helmed the previous two Maze Runner films
, returns to the writing chair to give The Maze Runner series its Return Of The King style finish to the story arc it's been building for a total of four years since the first movies release in 2014. For the most part, Nowlin succeeds in giving these characters, particularly Thomas, their proper closure to their journey while closing up every other subplot. Whereas the script as a whole succeeds in wrapping up the trilogies arc overall, it also suffers from tired old cliches and predictable moments that audiences saw coming a mile away, such as the films climactic helicopter scene. Despite the scene being well-executed, the audience knew what was going to happen before it did with the end result being a lessened impact than what the scenes reaction required in that moment. The script also shows that the franchise was growing tired with some of the same moments from previous films happening again in this one such as characters looking out at horizons along with windows. The script also has characters crying and then someone giving a heroic speech to reassure everyone (As well as the audience), that the main characters will prevail in the end. Add to that people pointing guns at each other without the intention of actually pulling the trigger and characters who were once thought to be dead later revealed to be alive (We're looking at you Gally). The scripts structure remains balanced for the most part, though occasionally runs the risk of being uneven at times due to the writers desire to throw everything possible into the movie to send the franchise out on a high note. He even goes as far as having one of the films main characters who died in the story, give an emotional final speech in a letter that Thomas character reads to the audience with the film showing what happens to each of the characters in the end. It certainly comes across as being mushy as well as cliched, but it manages to work in giving fans the happy ending they desire.

      In the end, The Maze Runner: Death Cure manages to finish off the series on a note that's honorable and legitimately feels like the end for both the story and characters. It will undoubtedly be the one out of the trilogy that will divide fans as the overall film definitely could've been stronger (It needed to be trimmed shorter to cut down on some of the films most random moments), but it satisfies in bringing the series to a decent close. The film won't win over any new fans as it's not possible to fully understand its story nor appreciate its efforts to close it out without having seen the first two Maze Runners. As a whole, the trilogy has much to offer in terms of being entertaining while drawing it's audience into a unique dystopian world, that allows them to become invested in both the story and characters. The best thing that can be said about each film in the franchise despite the fact that they're all connected in terms of story, is that they all differ in regards to style with the first film being the most vague and mysterious of the three with the later films bringing in the action. Looking back at how the first Maze Runner began to how Death Cure concludes, one would be shocked at the fact that they all belong to the same trilogy of films. For that reason, The Maze Runner franchise is worth the time and effort to watch with Death Cure despite its share of faults, presenting a respectable finish to the storyline. The film is enjoyed at it's maximum best when one watches it with the previous two films to see how all the stories ultimately connect for better or worse.

Final Verdict: For those who've seen the first two Maze Runner flicks but not this one, Death Cure is worth watching to see the trilogy conclude in a fashion that's both respectable as well as honorable.