"The Maze Runner" has always been vastly different from the books. I am a book purist and tend to hate movie adaptations if they vary too much from the source material. I didn't mind too much with the first installment, hated the second and having disliked the third book welcomed the changes the third installment had to offer.
This franchise was welcomed overall as it featured a male lead in a dystopian future as opposed to the female leads that seemed to dominate the dystopian young adult franchises. I obviously enjoyed reading the female lead novels and watching their adaptations, but it was interesting and refreshing to read a male authors' perspective.
"The Maze Runner" follows a group of young men as they are dropped into a maze and must find their way out. Thomas (Dylan O'Brien) and his friends quickly discover they are pawns in a corporation called WICKED's trials. Thomas and his friends are immune for the most part to the "flare", a disease that turns humans into zombie like cranks.
Thomas has one simple goal: escape WICKED's clutches with his friends alive. It is difficult to do so as he and his friends are pursued relentlessly by WICKED as they try to find a cure for the flare.
"The Death Cure" opens on Thomas and his friends as they hijack a train in order to rescue their captured friend Minho (Ki Hong Lee). Unfortunately, they take the wrong train car and Minho ends up in WICKED's headquarters. Testing continues on Minho as he is tortured in order to speed up the process of finding a cure. Teresa (Kaya Scodelario), the only female in the maze with them, is one of the scientists involved in torturing Minho which angers Thomas as he had strong feelings for her.
That is the main plot of the film: find a way to rescue Minho and escape with all the other immunes in tow. There are some surprising reunions and fun action sequences.
The film is action packed and the pacing keeps things interesting. There are a lot of coincidences, but there are even more in the book. Yes, these coincidences are annoying and extremely convenient, but if you have read the book they are easy to ignore.
There is a lot to digest in this film and could have had a shorter run time, but honestly I highly disliked the book and so the problems in this film did not bother me as much. I have heard mixed reviews from casual movie goers though. I say the action is fun and the pacing keeps the film moving. It is not the best film in the young adult dystopian category, but it is still engaging and worth a watch.
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