In The Maze Runner, teenage boys kept being put into a hostile maze environment and tested for some quasi-scientific reason.
MAZE RUNNER: THE SCORCH TRIALS
Director: Wes Ball
Cast: Dylan O'Brien, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Kaya Scodelario, Ki Hong Lee, Jacob Lofland, Dexter Darden
Rating: (M)
Two and a half stars (out of five)
The rules seemed to change when a girl, Teresa (Kaya Scodelario), is eventually sent into the maze.
The kids rebel, attempt to escape and at the end of movie are rescued.
Well, anyone who has seen any teenage science fiction film will know the safety you work so hard to arrive at is not always that safe - especially in the second film.
Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (Readings and Rialto) opens shortly after the first one ended.
Thomas (Dylan O'Brien) and his buddies are deposited at a military bunker by their new friends.
Inside there are armed guards controlling their movements, but at least they have food, new clothes, a chance to shower, comfortable bedding and a promise of being moved on to a safe location.
The others are prepared to take this at face value, but Thomas is not so sure.
He befriends Aris (Jacob Lofland), a kid at the base who has noticed that things don't add up.
Soon Thomas and his gang have escaped into a hostile environment with blistering sun, aggressive infected people and their rescuers out to reclaim them.
It is enough to make you miss the certainty of the maze.
This second film packs a lot of action in but it all feels like a cut and paste from other way smarter movies.
Hopefully, they have been saving some originality for the final film.
• Christine Powley
