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Movies & TV Movies & TV Reviews

Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials

MAZE RUNNER: THE SCORCH TRIALS (Wes Ball). 132 minutes. Now playing. See listings. Rating: NNN

Where to watch: iTunes


Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials delivers more and bigger sci-fi action-adventure thrills than the original Maze Runner.

Mere moments after their escape from the maze, our little band of teens is on the run again, this time with baddies in hot pursuit. They’ve discovered that their would-be protectors have something nasty planned for them, so they fight their way through a zombie-riddled post-apocalyptic city and desert in hopes of finding the rumoured resistance movement.

The action never lets up. Returning director Wes Ball isn’t especially imaginative but knows how to shoot and drive the proceedings with a pounding score. He also gives things an epic feel with strong CG environments, notably the leaning high-rises in a ruined city, site of the movie’s splashiest sequence.

The chase structure holds considerably fewer surprises than the original’s tantalizing mystery, and both character development and humour are gone, but story complications and some new characters hold our interest.

The cast is as competent as before, but they no longer look, or act, at all like the kids they’re meant to be. Among the newcomers, Aidan Gillen (Game Of Thrones) stands out for his low-key menace.

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