Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015)

Plot summary (story synopsis): Thomas (Dylan O'Brien) and his pals have been rescued from the glade/maze by men in helicopters, led by Janson (Aidan Gillen - Little Finger in Game of Thrones).

They are taken to Janson's headquarters with promises of a better life. But Thomas discovers a sinister secret about Janson. He and his friends break out into a hostile world where they face scorching heat and zombies, with Janson hot on their trail.

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Scorch Trials is the second movie in the Maze Runner series. It's a repetitive mix of people running and getting into gunfights. There are maybe 5 separate incidents such as this.

We've seen it before. Zombies (three percent of the movies released in the past decade), ruthless scientists experimenting on an immune hero to find a cure for an epidemic (Resident Evil), a collapsed skyscraper leaning over (Transformers, Cloverfield), teenagers being drugged to stop them from their quest (Labyrinth), people crawling in air ducts (twelve percent of all thrillers), teens sleeping together in barracks (Divergent, Kingsman), a captive population being fooled that they will be chosen to go to a better place (The Island).

But the fundamental problem with the Maze Runner series is that we don't care about the characters. There are too many secondary characters. So much so that we don't care if any of them get killed.

There is no sense of danger or urgency. But it's not just the supporting cast. We don't even care about Thomas. We know that he's the hero and therefore in no physical danger. The Hunger Games gets around this problem by putting Katniss in psychological danger. There is no equivalent for Thomas.

Its basic scenario also sucks. Like Resident Evil, the movie naively assumes that the ruined and depopulated world can maintain its fancy equipment - helicopters, computers, medical equipment, long distance video links.

The time and resources poured into building the massive movable maze. All for what? How does that help them find a cure for the virus?

This lack of realism extends to the details of the plot. Instead of creatively extrapolating a believable plot from its basic premise (no matter how dumb it might be), action cliches are dreamed up and a plot is made to accommodate the cliches.

The pacing is fast though. There's never a dull moment. If only we had something worth cheering for.