THE MAZE RUNNER: THE DEATH CURE

US, 2018, 142 minutes, Colour.
Dylan O' Brien, Thomas Brodie- Sangster, Kaya Scoadelario, Walton Goggins, Katherine McNamara?, Aidan Gillen, Natalie Emanuel, Patricia Clarkson, Giancarlo Esposito, Barry Pepper, Ki Hong Lee.
Directed by Wes Ball.

Since this is the third episode in this young adult story, it is clearly geared for fans of the books on which the films are based as well as the films themselves. For those who might come to this film cold, it presupposes so much of the previous films that they might well be lost.

The fans will remember the previous films in all their detail, the first story about teenagers losing their memories and trapped in a maze. They will also recall the escape, the second film and the laboratories where experiments on a virus and the spreading of plague are done. For the less-involved audience and reviewers, it is sometimes a bit of a hard slog to remember the previous films in detail and not mix them up with similar stories, especially the Divergent series which it resembles in many ways, except that this time the central character is a hero rather than, as in Divergent and The Hunger Games, where the central character is female.

This time, the film opens with desert scenes, a ship that the rebels are refurbishing as a refuge, young captives in a train, rebels in pursuit, some rather spectacular stunt work with the rescue.

Then, we are introduced to get into a great number of the characters. At the centre, is Thomas. He has been played by Dylan O’ Brien but this time he seems a rather sullen, short-fused seeker of vengeance as well as a saviour figure. (The IMDb notes that Dylan O’ Brien is characterised by a goofy personality – he must be a good actor because there is absolutely nothing of goofiness in his performance here as well is in American Assassin).

The villains are also back. Aidan Gillen is Janson, the often seemingly-smiling security head of the laboratories where investigations are going on to find a serum against the play. Patricia Clarkson is also back again as the doctor who does have some sympathy for the rebels. With her is Teresa (Kaya Scodelario) who for motives important for herself has been the agent of the capture of the main rebels. One of them are still being experimented on, Minho (Ki Hong Lee).

Thomas is also prone to taking heroic risks as well as some dopey risks. He decides to go into the city to rescue his friend from the laboratories, naturally enough his best friends all agree to go with him. So does an older associate, Giancarlo Esposito.

So, there is a lot of action in the city, infiltrating the city, being the zombie-like plague victims, infiltrating the laboratories. There are a lot of confrontations, Thomas with Teresa, with Janson, leading to a lot of stunt work fights at the end.

Thomas has always had a thing for Teresa but is angry with her, wanting to go into the city to find her – and she finding that he is not only a saviour but his blood might have the cure for the world. It doesn’t quite work out for the happy-ever-after ending audiences might have hoped for. Thomas Brodie-Sangster? as Newt, Thomas’s devoted friend, is also in danger because he has contracted the plague.

As might be expected in this kind of post-apocalyptic story, there is a final remnant, finding peace away from the turmoil of the city and the plague.

With this series completed, what will turn up next…?

1. The popularity of the novels? Young adult stories? The film series? The central characters, their fates? A post-apocalyptic world?

2. The title, the focus on the plague, the virus and its spread, the effect on people, becoming zombielike? The search for a cure? Thomas and the possibilities?

3. The title, the focus on the initial story, the young people, loss of memory, in the maze, the monsters, engineering their escape? The sequel and the laboratories, their imprisonment, their escape through the desert, a new colony?

4. The initial landscapes, the desert, the water, the ship? The train moving throughout the countryside? The contrast with the city, the views from a distance, the skyscrapers? The interiors of the city, the drab streets, homes, tunnels, the laboratories, the interiors of the facility? Creating an atmosphere? The musical score?

5. Thomas as the focus of the story, his friendship with Newt? The betrayal by Teresa? Brenda and the other members of the group? Jorge, older and more experience, and Brenda and their help? Meeting Gally again? The hostility, the reconciliation?

6. The young people in the train, imprisoned, being taken to the city? The raid, the vehicles, the helicopter? The young man engineering the helicopter and the lifting of the carriage? Freeing the young people? Minho still in the city and undergoing treatment?

7. Vince, the leader, working with Thomas? The action? The hopes for the future, the boat?

8. Thomas, assertive, short-fused, not listening to people, dangerous risks? Getting the vehicle to go to the city? Wanting to rescue Minho? The others joining him, the voyage? Brenda and her cure? Newt and his being infected? Jorge and his advice, his knowledge of the city and its dangers?

9. Infiltrating the city, post-apocalyptic, the buildings, the ruins, drab? The population, infected, the zombie behaviour and attacks?

10. Meeting Nearly again, his role with the guards, the reconciliation with Thomas after the aggression, his role in helping, Thomas as group and the disguise as the guards, infiltration? Gally contributing to the rescue? And the future?

11. In the city, in the laboratories? Teresa and her past, working with the doctors, the attentions from Janson, her experiments? The sinister aspects of the experiments? The staff, the speculations? Minho, his character, his nightmares and their vividness, the touches of horror? His awakening, his wanting to get out?

12. The forces gathering in the city, the plans, Thomas and his leadership, Newt wanting to accompany him? Brenda and the rescue of the young people? The bus, the rendezvous? Gally and his men, their contribution?

13. Thomas going into the facility, the encounter with Teresa, the initial hostility, his love for her? Confronting her, confronting Janson, confronting the doctor?

14. The action sequences, the rescue of Minho, the dangers, the weapons, the fights, Janson and his opposition? Newt and his illness, being taken over, the attempts to rescue him? Jorge and Brenda, the communications with Thomas, the bus? The pilot, the lifting of the bus? The grip loosening, the bus falling?

15. Thomas and his fight with Janson, the intensity and detail? Janson’s death? Janson killing the doctor?

16. Teresa, her role, the experiment with Thomas’s blood, his being able to provide a cure? The attempted escape, on the building, the collapses – and Teresa allowing herself to fall?

17. The rescue, the escape? The return to the boat? The new community, by the sea, peacefulness? And a future?