Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018) movie review

Overall verdict: 6.5/10

That YA Remake of Resident Evil The Final Chapter

The Good: Clearer directing in action scenes, good cast chemistry, presents themes that explore grey morality,  fitting music score, magnificent special effects, many emotional moments.

The Bad: Derivative and cliched plot, mediocre scripting, some wooden acting.

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Thomas and friends have survived the treacherous Maze, one of many experiments by the WCKD organisation to find a cure to a virus which turns humans into rage filled savages. They have survived the Scorch, the desolate wastelands which were once mankind’s greatest cities. Now they have to take on WCKD itself and the vengeful overseer Janson () who has captured Thomas’ buddy Minho hoping to extract a cure from his immune cells. They also have to deal with Theresa, Thomas’ former Girlfriend, who turns out to have been working for WCKD all along and betrayed the group in the last movie.

THE DEATH CURE is the final part of the MAZE RUNNER trilogy and at first glance it seems to carry on the derivative nature of the preceding entry THE SCORCH TRIALS. WCKD conducting questionable experiments for a virus cure? Rage filled human husks who would cannibalise survivors? A rag tag band of freedom fighters going up against a corrupt corporation? A hostile takeover from within that same corporation? Yup it definitely sounds like a rehash of Paul WS Anderson’s RESIDENT EVIL movie franchise. Even some of the designs used in this movie like WCKD’s flying vehicles The Bergs, look almost like Umbrella corporation VTOLs.

Looks can be deceiving however as once you get deeper into our story we see these familiar tropes given a fresh portrayal. All opposing forces in the ongoing conflict are just as morally questionable as the next. WCKD’s experiments may be brutal but it is revealed that their intentions are noble and altruistic, hoping to save the remnants of humanity without a single thought about profiteering from the cure. 

The rebel group comes complete with some familiar faces. Are they really opposing an oppressive government or are they just anarchists motivated by jealousy and adopting a “taking you with me” attitude towards what they see as the privileged class of people protected behind the walls? All of this is kept grey and it is nice to see such lines of good and evil blurred to this extent. Gives one quite a bit to think about.

Thomas,Theresa, Newt and Minho all receive a surprising amount of character development along with some startling revelations. The actors have become so comfortable portraying their characters and this shows through the chemistry especially in the emotionally tense moments. The action seems to be shot a lot clearer now with less of the jitter cam and quick cuts that made THE SCORCH TRIALS a chore to watch. The special effects are magnificent considering the movie’s Budget and the music by composer John Paesano (Superman/Batman: Apocalypse) complements the action perfectly.

When seen through the context of its young adult target audience, one could derive a “brothers before romantic partners” theme underlying the whole narrative of the trilogy. Whenever Thomas develops feelings for any female character or vice versa, trouble is soon to follow. Whereas the single minded determination to rescue a fellow “glader” (term used to denote the original band of allies who escaped the maze), this “leave no man behind” mindset is shown to be the purest of motives and the highest of moral obligations. So remember kids, Bros before babes ok?

That being said, THE MAZE RUNNER trilogy is a fun though slightly derivative series. Some liberties are taken from the original source material, like the removal of psychic powers, but these aid the transition to film. If you can overlook a weaker second instalment , then this third one THE DEATH CURE will make it all worthwhile.

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Entertainment: B+

Story: C+

Acting: B-

Characters: A-

Music: B-

Replay value: B+

"Brains": B

The Scorch Trials (2015) movie review

Overall verdict: 5.5/10

The Good: Bigger scale than its predecessor, consistent bleak tone and sense of tension, continues "maze-like" elements from predecessor, deviates from the more corny elements of the book (e.g: telepathy), continues sense of mystery

The Bad: Mediocre music, cliched story and setting, overly frenetic camerawork, lack of originality

3D Readiness: None

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Remember the unique setting of 2014's MAZE RUNNER? There constant sense of tension and mystery? The twists, the turns and the wholly original production design? Nope. In this sequel, we get rid of the maze, we get rid of the originality. What we are left delves into every single post apocalyptic video game cliche ever created, only with teens gifted with unlimited stamina.

Picking up where MAZE RUNNER left off, THE SCORCH TRIALS sees our heroes Thomas, Minho, Theresa, Frypan and Winston seemingly rescued by a group that claims to have their best interests at heart and who oppose WCKD(the evil organisation that trapped the kids in the maze in the first movie). It would have been believable if not for the incredibly evil sounding Irishman leader Mr Janson. Hearing him talk, you know all this "safe haven for the kids" is bull. And yes a short while later we find out that the kids have been actually captured by WCKD again and are about to get their brains drained. Something about some fluid in the brain and some mutation virus caused by solar flares. No answers are given of course and in true teenage fashion, the kids rebel against the controlling adults and venture forth into the burnt out desert wasteland city known as "the scorch".

From then on, the movie starts to resemble Dawn of the Dead: Post Apocalypse, or "I am Legend: Teenage Edition". There are zombies in dark tunnels and the kids only have themselves to rely on. Then they run into other humans. Some of them want to sell them, some want to broker a deal, some want their help in fighting back against WCKD. Evil organisation, resistance group, wasteland survivors, zombies, that's it! This is Uwe Boll's Fallout 3. It's like the writer started binge gaming after the success of MAZE RUNNER and just threw in what he liked about the various post apocalyptic games he played.

The characters don't change much other than for Thomas, the designated hero. He goes from  the confused mess he was in the last movie to the confused leader of a confused group in this movie. The rest are calafare at best, accessories to Thomas' journey. At least they go beyond being mere token minorities for the sake of diversity and actually contribute to the story in a crucial way.

Amidst the cliches, boring characters and overly shakey cinematography, THE SCORCH TRIALS does manage to hold on to its constant sense of tension in its second and third acts. Foe after foe comes at our young heroes, each one deadlier than the last. You have some magnificent set pieces showing off the post apocalyptic landscape in its full glory and at no time could I tell the practical sets from the CGI. But after a while, you sort of accept that these youngsters have olympic level stamina and can still look pretty escaping through sewers, trudging through ruins and hiding in holes. Kudos to the writer for continuing the "maze like" elements from he first movie, hence justifying the need to leave "Maze Runner" in the title. Sure, they aren't in an actual maze, but getting lost in zombie filled abandoned building, chased through a warren of tunnels and dodging stray lightning bolts in the dark, all call back to the dangers of the maze.

THE SCORCH TRIALS could have had some brains to it. At points I get the feeling the writer was trying to tie it all down as an analogy for growing up. If the Maze in the previous film represented a youngster's school life, with its rules, unique culture, sheltered learning environment, and first exposure to girls, then the Scorch almost seemed to represent that youngster taking his first steps into an adult world. It has some nice analogies to what regular teenagers face nowadays. Conflicting loyalties, conflicting emotions, a fling with drugs or just a tempting fling. Some would give up and yearn to return to the sheltered life in school, some would become corrupted by their newfound freedom; some would sink into the same vices that have plagued the adults and yet a few would rise to the occasion, becoming better people in the process.  This analogy of the scorch to the trials of young adulthood could have been played up a little better. And it was a real pity too.

In the end, THE SCORCH TRIALS cannot be forgiven for its reliance on cliche, even if it was in the original book. I cannot say for certain how much it deviated from the source, but I have learned that the book involved psychic powers. So i guess the lack of psychic powers in the movie is quite an improvement. Other than that, it is yet another movie with lost potential and a sequel that is no where as good as its predecessor.

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Entertainment: B-

Story: C-
Acting: B+

Characters: C+

Music: C-

Replay value: B-

"Brains": C

Edge Of Tomorrow (2014) movie review

Overall verdict: 9.5/10

The Good: Perfect character development, well paced narrative, actors spectacularly playing against type, thrilling action, fittingly gritty but clear cinematography, well placed dark humour, flawless special effects.

The Bad: Requires some thinking to follow the time loop plot

3D Readiness: Post filming 3D conversion.
IMax-ability: Fast paced shots of combat and intense action may not lend well to imax viewing

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Based on the Japanese novel "All you need is Kill", EDGE OF TOMORROW is a gripping character focused tale that gives a fun fresh edgy spin to a tried and true sic/fi premise. Remember those impossibly difficult video games where you just keep dying only to restart the game in frustration, get past that part where you last died and then die again? The cycle repeats and only through learning from past missteps can you outmanoeuvre your enemies and make it to the end. It is all a video game to us, but for the unfortunate Ex-Major William Cage, it is looping nightmare.

An alien species called the Mimics have landed. Inhumanly fast, vicious and able to outsmart human attack plans at every turn, Mimic forces threaten to overwhelm the world starting with Europe, until A mysterious victory at Verdun spurs the military's confidence in the one man army exoskeleton called "the jacket". If one woman, Rita Vertasky, could master the "jacket" within a few days of the victory at Verdun, then a legion of similarly equipped soldiers would stand a chance against the mimics. So begins a massive counteroffensive on the coasts of Europe which ends disastrously for former PR officer turned forced conscript William Cage (Tom Cruise).......until he wakes up 24 hours before the invasion at the start of his conscription.

What follows is an intense "groundhog day" style war story. True to the movie tagline, Cage lives, dies and repeats the day each time, and each time, he discovers more about the mimics and his mysterious ability. To change the future of mankind, Cage has to continually enlist the help of Rita Vertasky, the angel of Verdun, to train him and ultimately help him take down this alien menace.

In playing against type, Tom Cruise shines as the cowardly Cage whom we discover is all brave talk and no action. His performance is earnest and nuanced, lending weight to the more tragic scenes of Cage experiencing the deaths of those close to him over and over again. Equally nuanced is the tough as nails "angel of verdun" Rita Vertasky played by Emily Blunt. The emotionally captivating script conveys a beautiful heroes journey for Cage where he grows and learns following each cycle. Peppered throughout is the kind of dark humour which would make Paul Verhoven proud. Bill Paxton channels Lee Emery from Full Metal Jacket and delivers the best drill sergeant jerk face character in recent years.

Through the use of the time loop gimmick, this movie is able to deliver intense thrills and real chills. The irony is in how unpredictable the plot becomes by fooling its audience into the illusion of predictability with its premise. Just as you start to feel "safe" that Cage can overcome any problem by just dying and looping back with renewed knowledge, new twists are thrown in and this heightens the stakes; feel of peril when Cage is suddenly caught off guard has never felt more dangerous. It helps that the antagonistic "mimics" are possibly the most "alien" alien threat that we have seen in a while.

They are a mess of glass-like inhuman appendages with gaping maws that glow fiery red. They are a whipping blur and always seem out of phase with time and space, spectacularly brought to life with cutting edge special effects. While many shots were done on location, one would be hard pressed to tell where the actual location ends and the special effects begin. Those into mecha would definitely be captivated by the exo-suits worn by the human soldiers which hearken back to the story's Japanese roots.

All this aside, Edge of Tomorrow is a lot smarter than it seems at first. It deconstructs cliches and may even be seen as a parody of an audience's expectations when they see a movie. Each loop Cage experiences is slightly different and he fails when he expects only the same formula and is caught off guard by new surprises. In a way, movie audiences feel most "safe" in a cliched movie. Look at the highest grossing blockbusters worldwide and you can see this proof. In the same way, here is a movie that is built on cliche: the time loop, jerk face drill sergeant, world war two Normandy landing ripoff, special effects laden combat etc. Yet these cliches are handled smart and they are delivered spectacularly.

If not for the slightly underwhelming music, Edge of Tomorrow would have gotten a perfect score. Many have called this the movie Starship Troopers should have been. I for one come away with joy and hope seeing how wonderfully Hollywood has adapted a Japanese light novel especially after mediocre results adapting manga and Japanese movies. There are many such novels just waiting to be adapted into blockbuster films: the high school espionage thriller with mechs "Full Metal Panic", the post apocalyptic vampire tale "Trinity Blood", and of course the Gothic science fiction horror that is "Vampire Hunter D".

Watch this, savour this, and repeat. Edge of Tomorrow is easily the biggest surprise hit of 2014.

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Entertainment: A

Story: A
Acting: A

Characters: A

Music: B

Replay value: A

"Brains": B+

The Maze Runner (2014) movie review

Overall verdict: 8/10

The Good: Intriguing mystery premise, well rounded characterisations, magnificent production design, well paced narrative, touches on social commentary

The Bad: cliched storyline, shaky camera cinematography, "designated hero" syndrome for main character

3D Readiness: Post filming 3D conversion.
IMax-ability: Tight shaky shots of running do not work in iMax. 

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His name is Thomas. That is all he knows. He has been sent via the mysterious "box" into a contained colony of boys called "the glade". Nobody knows why they are there, only that they cannot leave. Around the glade lies the maze where only the fastest and bravest among them, dubbed "maze runners", get to explore in the hopes of finding a way out. Thomas' arrival causes a schism among the boys and strange incidents start happening one after the other. As the perfect peaceful society of the Glade is slowly torn asunder, Thomas must unravel the secrets of the maze and confront the horrors within. 

Secrets, half-truths, and a sense that all is not what it seems. I have always loved a good sci if mystery. Our premise of a community of male teens isolated from the world is a premise many would be familiar with. The group rivalries, the competition for alpha male status, the unique lifestyle and forms of punishment; MAZE RUNNER takes advantage of its slow moving first half to build that world of lost boys. All the while, the constant mystery of the maze lingers. And just when things start to wind down, the writers throw more surprises into the mix which give the film a much needed sense of urgency. What are these surprises? No spoilers now. But rest assured, this movie has great pacing.

MAZE RUNNER is how I always imagined a gritty blockbuster movie would look based on those printed mazes in activity books we used to trace with crayons when we were kids. The maze itself is marvelously designed, oozing with a sense of dread. The ominous walls combines an ancient monolithic look with pieces of worn out future tech peeking out the corners; just enough to give this uneasy sense of that something is not quite right. Couple all that with some truly spine chilling sound effects and the movie starts to cross into horror territory. 

It is to mazes kind of like what they did to a simple board game called Battleship. Unlike the battleship movie, MAZE RUNNER gives us some well rounded characters with believable motives and decent development. Yes you have some clichéd stereotypes in the benevolent but status quo upholding leader, the hot headed "warrior chief" alpha male edging for a fight, the conflicted second in command, and an adorable sidekick for the main character. Yet it is this sense of familiarity with the character archetypes and the isolated single gender community setting that let's one ease into the story without being alienated by the already alienating premise.

Amazing as the movie is, MAZE RUNNER is not without some flaws. Main character Thomas suffers from the typical designated hero syndrome. He is not a kid who earns his heroism or the respect of the group. From the get go, everything important revolves around him, he is able to do startling things that no one else can. You know he is special and the plot does not hide that or let it develop naturally. Director Wes Ball crafts a decently paced narrative with top notch special effects, but the visuals tend to be marred by his obsession with out of focus shaky cameras in action scenes. Perhaps the biggest misstep is some poorly placed flashbacks that could have completely ruined the mystery element for audiences familiar with certain video games (hint: Portal). 

I admit to not having read the original book so I would not know how close it is to the source material. On its own, MAZE RUNNER is The grandchild of LORD OF THE FLIES and TV's LOST. It combines tried and true story beats sieved through an intriguing premise and a decent mystery (despite being almost undone by the ill advised flashbacks). It avoids many mistakes other adaptations of young adult novels make, like lingering on romance subplots, and leaves a decent sequel hook that leaves you wanting more.

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Entertainment: A

Story: B-
Acting: B+

Characters: A

Music: B+

Replay value: A

"Brains": B