The Death Cure: everything the book was not

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Courtesy Twentieth Century Fox - TM & © 2017

Thomas (Dylan O’Brien), Newt (Thomas Brodie-Sangster), Cranks leader Jorge (Giancarlo Esposito), Frypan (Dexter Darden) and Brenda (Rosa Salazar)

Kumari Pacheco, Staff Writer

The third installment of The Maze Runner series (original books by James Dashner), The Death Cure, has finally come to theatres after a two-year wait, much to the anxiety of fans. After all, rookie director Wes Ball had been faced with a very tough job — to succeed where author Dashner had failed.

In the book The Death Cure, the already incredibly convoluted storyline was made even more absurd through pointless plot twists, overused love triangles, and an anticlimactic, nonsensical ending that leaves the reader with more questions than answers.

In a move that possibly saved the entire franchise, Wes Ball scrapped Dashner’s conclusion, and, using only certain key pieces, crafted a completely new ending that not only wrapped up The Maze Runner’s chaotic world, but also made me sad to see it go.

The movie’s developments for characters Newt (Thomas Brodie-Sangster, who also voiced Ferb from Phineas and Ferb) Jorge (Giancarlo Esposito) Minho (Ki Hong Lee) and Janson (Aidan Gillen) were beautifully and artistically executed, though Thomas (Dylan O’Brien) and Teresa (Kaya Scodelario) remained the one-dimensional characters they’d been in the books.

However, director Wes Ball’s wonderful and imaginative special effects and architecture made it very easy to forgive Thomas’ and Teresa’s follies as characters. Cities depicted mid-crumble, desolate wastelands more alien than the moon, and The Last City, whose architecture was so stunning, it almost compares to Greeks’ mythological city of Olympus.

All in all, The Death Cure is a cinematic success in the category of dystopian movies. If you enjoyed the endings of The Hunger Games and Divergent, you will definitely find closure and satisfaction in this one.

  • Rating
4