Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018) review

Ever since the Harry Potter film series became the global phenomenon that it technically still is today, many studios tried to capitalize on its success. And thus, several films based on novels from the young adult genre, which are often marketed towards the teen demographic, proceeded to get greenlit. However, several of these attempted franchises were unable to get off the ground due to their first installments often being critical/commercial disappointments, with the only major exceptions being Twilight, Hunger Games, and Divergent. And even then, of those three franchises, only Hunger Games managed to attract the same kind of critical success that Harry Potter had achieved. But in 2014, one attempt at a new ‘young adult’ film franchise surprisingly managed to succeed where several others had previously failed. The Maze Runner, which was based on author James Dashner’s 2009 novel of the same name while also serving as the directorial debut of former VFX artist Wes Ball, managed to fare quite well with both critics and audiences. And on just a modest $34 million budget, it grossed nearly $350 million worldwide. One year later, it was then followed by a sequel in Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials. It too managed to do well at the box-office though its overall critical reception wasn’t as strong compared to its predecessor. Still, here are we now with the finale to this dystopian tale, Maze Runner: The Death Cure. While the film’s release had to be delayed for almost an entire year after series lead Dylan O’Brien suffered some serious injuries during its production, it also didn’t go the same route as franchises like Hunger Games and Twilight by being split into two films. It’s a good thing, too, because after the rather disappointing affair that was The Scorch Trials, The Death Cure allows this franchise to go out on a good note.

Throughout the course of this series, we’ve followed the adventures of main protagonist Thomas (Dylan O’Brien) and his conflict with the organization known as WKCD. After a devastating solar flare ravaged the planet, which was then followed by an outbreak of a virus known as ‘the Flare’ that turns its victims into zombified creatures known as ‘Cranks’, WCKD subjected those who were immune to the virus through a series of experiments to try and find a cure. When Thomas (a former member of the organization) opposed their methods, he was placed inside the very same experiments that he had a hand in working on. However, with the help of his fellow ‘Immunes’, Thomas managed to break them out from their maze-like prison while still being pursued by WCKD’s leader Ava Paige (Patricia Clarkson) and her military leader Janson (Aidan Gillen). Things came to a head at the end of The Scorch Trials when Thomas’ friend and fellow former WCKD employee Teresa (Kaya Scodelario) betrayed their group, leading to WCKD capturing several members of the resistance group known as the Right Arm and fellow Maze survivor Minho (Ki Hong Lee). In response, Thomas, Newt (Thomas Brodie-Sangster), Frypan (Dexter Darden), and ‘Scorch’ survivors Brenda (Rosa Salazar) and Jorge (Giancarlo Esposito) embark on a perilous mission to both rescue their friends and to take down WCKD before they can harm any other children who are immune to ‘the Flare’. To do so, they must venture into WCKD’s heavily guarded main base of operations, which also happens to be the ‘Last City’ currently left standing on Earth.

Two of the best aspects of this franchise have been its production design and its action sequences, and both have managed to improve with each new film due in part to an increase in budget since the first film, effectively allowing the opportunity for more elaborate visuals and grander-scaled action sequences. But, of course, a lot of this is also thanks to Wes Ball’s continually solid direction, as he once again proves to be quite an effective director when it comes to action sequences. But then there’s also the writing, which is a lot better than what we got in this film’s immediate predecessor. Whereas the first Maze Runner managed to have a surprisingly engaging mystery plot, especially for those going in who weren’t familiar with the source material, it felt that, with The Scorch Trials, the story began to play second fiddle to the franchise’s action set-pieces. And as good as those action sequences were, they ultimately weren’t enough to make up for The Scorch Trials’ numerous narrative shortcomings. Thankfully, that’s not as big of an issue here. While the film is still primarily action-oriented like the second film, there’s also a lot more focus on the plot and its characters. In other words, The Death Cure feels a lot more like the first Maze Runner in terms of its overall execution. And given that this is the final installment of the series, it does manage to end it all on a generally conclusive note even if some plotlines and character arcs don’t exactly get proper conclusions to them. Heck, the film even manages to have a few genuinely solid emotional moments here and there.

With that said, though, it’s understandable if some may find this film to be rather bloated, and this is largely due to it being the longest entry in the series by far at nearly two and a half hours long. But while I do agree that it is perhaps a tad bit overlong, at the very least it never felt as emotionally empty as The Scorch Trials often was; trust me, if it did, then that hefty runtime would’ve been a far bigger problem. And this is mainly thanks to the franchise’s solid ensemble cast, which has been another key element to its success. Since the beginning, this series has relied heavily on its cast of young leads while the bigger names in the cast (e.g. Giancarlo Esposito, Barry Pepper, etc.) were given noteworthy supporting roles. And these young leads are once again excellent in their respective roles, highlighted by the main duo of Dylan O’Brien (who, as a lead actor, has matured just as much as this franchise has) and Thomas Brodie-Sangster as Thomas and Newt. Newt, especially, gets some big character moments in this entry that are incredibly well-handled. On that note, the film also makes sure to atone for one of the biggest shortcomings of The Scorch Trials by delving further into Teresa’s decision to betray her friends and work with WCKD again (something that was barely touched upon in that film due to the character’s limited screen-time) in the hopes of finding a cure. This, in turn, results in stronger character development for Teresa and arguably Kaya Scodelario’s best performance in the role. Finally, as for the film’s main villains, Patricia Clarkson and Aidan Gillen are also solid once again in their respective roles as Ava Paige and Janson, but without giving anything away, one ends up having a far more substantial role in the plot than the other.  

(P.S. There’s also a surprise cameo that I can’t talk about that much due to it being a big plot spoiler, but I will say that it too helps this film regain a lot of the spirit of the first film that was lost during the second film.)

Looking back, the original Maze Runner was truly quite the success story, and not just because it was part of a genre that usually yielded mixed results. It had a far smaller budget than most franchises of this genre, served as the directorial debut for a then-untested director, and was almost entirely centered on a cast of young leads. And yet, it ultimately turned out to be quite good; at the very least, better than most recent YA film adaptations. With that in mind, The Death Cure mainly serves as one thing; further proof as to why The Scorch Trials turned out to be quite disappointing. Seriously, the best way that I can describe the second film is that it was basically what many people feared the film version of Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers was going to be like, a ‘middle chapter’ without much focus. By comparison, The Death Cure boasts stronger emotional stakes for its main characters that yield some incredibly effective poignant moments. And despite some of the series’ biggest plotlines ultimately going unanswered, the film does serve its purpose of being a proper finale for the story that was initially set up in the first film while still maintaining the franchise’s knack for solid action sequences. With that said, though, I will agree with the consensus on Rotten Tomatoes in that those who weren’t already invested in the Maze Runner franchise, to begin with, aren’t going to get much out of this film. But for those who are fans of this series and were rather disappointed with how The Scorch Trials turned out, like I was, then I bet that you’ll be far more satisfied with The Death Cure as it’s far closer to the quality of the first film than the second… arguably better even…

Rating: 4.5/5