PW at the Movies: 'The Scorch Trials'

Two staffers in PW’s children’s department caught the latest film in the Maze Runner series, The Scorch Trials, directed by Wes Ball and released in theaters on September 18. Here our moviegoing duo discuss casting decisions both enlightened and otherwise, digressions from the books, and the feels of adolescence. Warning: readers who have not seen the first film – or read the books – will encounter spoilers.

NG: I was really excited to see this movie because I feel like reading or watching anything Maze Runner feels like I’m getting enough cardio to skip the gym. I also like spotting how many of the five English actors working today they can fit in a film. The game used to be spot the Harry Potter character: “oh, look, it’s Moaning Myrtle!” But now it’s all Game of Thrones: “Littlefinger, why are you always so scheming! Oh, Jojen Reed, such puppy dog eyes....” But I digress. I feel like overall, the movie was stronger than the first one, if for nothing else than we have more information, we see more world-building, and the kids have escaped the Glade, so it’s able to get a bit more complex, to say nothing of the ambiguous nature of the “evil” the kids may or may not be escaping.

MB: I agree about the cardio thing. I was pretty tired arriving at the theatre and was concerned that dim lights would put me to sleep almost immediately. Not so: I definitely woke up. It’s clear from the opening sequence that this is an action-filled dystopian movie that spins in a lot of – sometimes dizzying – directions.The Scorch Trials has enough plot points to befuddle anyone who hasn’t ardently followed the series up until this point. There were a few occasions when I wish I could turn to the nearest 15-year-old über fan and ask him or her to clarify something. Like... the creatures in the tanks. What’s up with that again, and why aren’t we more concerned about them?

But, to be fair, even the main players in the movie spend a lot of it being pretty confused and not remembering anything. They also spend a lot of time scampering over uneven ground and – Thomas especially – narrowly making it through or under passageways that are about to close on him. Incidentally, Natasha, I’m glad we didn’t decide to sneak tequila into the theatre and take shots every time Thomas slides under a door, because we’d have left pretty hammered. In any case, is this a metaphor for the entrance into adulthood? And if we are going down that post-apocalyptic road, is the Glade an incubation tank, symbolic of childhood itself? I was pleased that Thomas – who, I will say, is a rather generic-looking white adolescent, though the film does get props for its otherwise diverse cast – experiences drug-induced hallucinations at that one raver-bunker party, because I felt like it added some authenticity to his character. I mean, most teens don’t face a crumbling dystopia, but chances are they’ll attend a sweaty, awkward dance party. It also kind of reminded me of the scene from Labyrinth when Jennifer Connelly is in the dream state where she’s pulled between clinging to the stuff of childhood and the somewhat uncomfortable allure of David Bowie. More digressions....

NG: If The Maze Runner was a symbol of childhood, then The Scorch Trials could definitely be a symbol for adolescence. So much defiance and rebellion! Yet overwhelmingly – and really to the end of the film – just who our Teen Heroes are rebelling against felt like a more urgent question that wasn’t really dealt with. I mentioned earlier that this ambiguity makes the film more complex. Maybe not knowing if WCKD is truly, well, wicked, is part of our adolescents’ finding their way in the world, of sussing out their values and which side of the line in the sand (sorry, I couldn’t help it) they stand. That ambiguity exists in the books, but one change I appreciated was ditching the telepathy that’s in the text. In some ways, some of the changes felt like they just moved things forward quicker and were slightly more realistic or practical. Which kind of brought to mind for me Troy, that Brad Pitt/Eric Bana reinterpretation of the Iliad, where the filmmakers found secular ways to handle things like the wrath of gods and goddesses. Some people probably hated that, but the telepathy pulled me out of the text while reading, and the movie feels more seamless without it, in my opinion.

MB: I’m always intrigued by adult characters in YA fiction and, obviously, in the movie adaptations of these books. It can be tough to pull off adult characters successfully in books that are wholly centered around the experiences and inner life of an adolescent, without them seeming planted. Dystopian YA seems to have its share of adults, which would make sense, as youth are often inheriting a world that has been destroyed at the hands of their forebears who should have known better or are just plain wicked (pun intended). There’s definitely something gratifying about seeing teenagers shoot up a bunch of mean adults. But I was interested to see how the book’s villains and other adult characters came across in the film. I love myself some Patricia Clarkson, but her character, Dr. Ava Page, doesn’t make a lot of appearances. When the motives of WCKD come to light toward the conclusion, it’s smirking Janson’s (Aidan Gillen) unsubtle character that makes it clear that the organization’s efforts aren’t purely about sacrificing teens to save the future of humanity. Jorge was, without a doubt, my favorite character in the movie and it makes me want to go back and read about him. It helps that the wonderful Giancarlo Esposito of Breaking Bad fame plays him. It’s clear that the director took some creative license with some of the Jorge scenes and I’m so glad he did! The detail of the Patsy Cline record triggering the explosion in the warehouse where Jorge is overlord was one of the best aesthetic choices the director made. After this scene, I perked up: “Maybe this film is developing some character,” I thought. But the same can’t be said for its central protagonist.

NG: I have to agree with you there. You mentioned earlier Thomas leaving something to be desired. I think it’s a delicate balance to hit, finding an “everykid” type that viewers can superimpose themselves on, though I think in some cases the actor, Dylan O’Brien, did really well. There were a few scenes where he and the other Gladers – or whoever he’s paired with when crises are hitting – need to figure out what they’re doing next. And everyone looks to him to figure it out. And I think instead of him coming off as this preternaturally prepared and badass superhero type, the actor showed subtlety and depth in conveying, “Hey guys, I’m just as flummoxed by these zombies as you are, I have no plan!,” while also just taking action and figuring out the plan as he goes, which you always want your hero to be able to do. And then later in the movie – I’ll try to avoid spoiling too much – there’s a really great, tender scene between him and a character, that shows another angle to his emotional depth that seems more substantive than his concern for his friends and fellow Gladers back in the WCKD compound. That is to say, his impulsiveness, and loyalty to his Glader friends, are why we cheer for Thomas, but those scenes can come off almost too easily. It’s in this later scene that we see something sort of genuine that redeems Thomas’s general, non-specific hero archetype, which is present through much the rest of the movie. But to begin to wrap things up, I thought the tweaks they made at the end made for a really interesting teaser to a sequel: not super cliff-hangery, but it definitely left me wanting more. And since I feel that this installment in the film franchise was stronger than the first, I have high hopes that it will only continue to get better.

MB: I’ll also be intrigued to see what future installments bring to the screen. While The Scorch Trials offered much more clarity than the first film in terms of revealing the sort of world that the characters inhabit, I also appreciated how the story is deepening in moral complexity and raising questions about sacrifice, loyalty, and altruism that are powerful. As these questions are probed further, I suspect that Thomas may also evolve as a character. All in all, I think the movie struck a fine balance between remaining true to the text while offering up a few stylistic modifications that worked. Also: I totally dreamed that I was running through a dystopian wasteland the night after seeing the film, which I take as a good sign. If a movie manages to invade my sleeping brain like a human-made zombie virus, then high-fives all around.