Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials

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Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials

PG-13

Released Sep 18, 2015

2h 11m

Sci-Fi

Adventure

Action

Mystery & Thriller

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Popcornmeter

48%

Tomatometer

152 Reviews

54%

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50,000+ Ratings

Transported to a remote fortified outpost, Thomas and his fellow teenage Gladers find themselves in trouble after uncovering a diabolical plot from the mysterious and powerful organization WCKD. With help from a new ally, the Gladers stage a daring escape into the Scorch, a desolate landscape filled with dangerous obstacles and crawling with the virus-infected Cranks. The Gladers only hope may be to find the Right Hand, a group of resistance fighters who can help them battle WCKD.

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Critics Consensus

Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials is an action-packed sequel at the cost of story, urgency, and mystery that the original offered.

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Tara Brady

Irish Times

Still, there's plenty of fun to be had from the fleet-footed zombies and random nods to Mad Max.

Rated: 3/4

Mar 2, 2016

Full Review

Jim Slotek

Toronto Sun

If it sounds like there isn't an original thought in The Scorch Trials' scripted head, you're right. But at least you won't be smacking yourself in the head trying to figure out what's going on.

Rated: 3/5

Sep 24, 2015

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Monica Castillo

International Business Times

Unlike the second Hunger Games movie, which largely felt like retread, the latest Maze Runner opens up its world and actually contextualizes the motive behind the bad guys.

Rated: 3/5

Sep 20, 2015

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Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

Unlike other YA franchises, the basic emotional underpinnings remain vacant in The Maze Runner movies, and the action isn’t good enough to keep our attention.

Rated: 1.5/4

May 27, 2022

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Hosea Rupprecht

Pauline Media Studies

Scorch Trials does not present any new themes or much character development but it does cement the concepts of truth and freedom that The Maze Runner introduced.

Sep 13, 2021

Full Review

Tyler Smith

Battleship Pretension

Yes, there are the standard story beats to hit, but Wes Ball doesn't seem interested in simply hitting them and moving on. Instead, he wants to understand why something might happen and what the implications of it are.

Jan 15, 2021

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Kristal R

This was such a waste of time. I will always regret watching this movie, I kept watching waiting for it to get good but it never did. Do not watch.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

08/08/25

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Diego P

What I just saw… it doesn't look anything like it! Why did they even give it the same name if it’s nothing alike? And once again, the Messiah trope appears—they basically destroyed Aris just to make the protagonist look better. It makes no sense. In the books, Aris was actually important. He was the equivalent of Thomas in the other group. He mattered. But in the movie, they reduced him to nothing just to boost the "chosen one" narrative even more.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

07/17/25

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Ava S

why tf is her name ava. oh and I honestly don’t understand the hate-unless it’s like a book to movie thing-because I haven’t read the books and never will.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

06/13/25

Full Review

Mike V

The Maze Was Just the Beginning. Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (stylized onscreen simply as The Scorch Trials) is a 2015 American dystopian science fiction film. The film is a direct sequel to the 2014 film The Maze Runner and the second installment in The Maze Runner film series. It was directed by Wes Ball 🏃 Not bad, but not my favourite either 😐 Meh, it passed the time. Just. 😐👍🏼👎🏼 Thomas and his fellow Gladers face their greatest challenge yet: searching for clues about the mysterious and powerful organization known as WCKD. Their journey takes them to the Scorch, a desolate landscape filled with unimaginable obstacles. Teaming up with resistance fighters, the Gladers take on WCKD’s vastly superior forces and uncover its shocking plans for them all.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

05/20/25

Full Review

Brayden G

Weakest out of the three movies

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

05/04/25

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Emma F

Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, an action-packed sequel, loses its way in the process of trying to be more exciting.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

04/10/25

Full Review

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Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials: Trailer 2

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Synopsis

Transported to a remote fortified outpost, Thomas and his fellow teenage Gladers find themselves in trouble after uncovering a diabolical plot from the mysterious and powerful organization WCKD. With help from a new ally, the Gladers stage a daring escape into the Scorch, a desolate landscape filled with dangerous obstacles and crawling with the virus-infected Cranks. The Gladers only hope may be to find the Right Hand, a group of resistance fighters who can help them battle WCKD.

Director: Wes Ball
Producer: Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, Wyck Godfrey, Marty Bowen, Lee Stollman, Joe Hartwick Jr.
Screenwriter: T.S. Nowlin
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Production Co: Temple Hill, Gotham Group
Rating: PG-13 (Extended Sequences of Violence|Action|Language|Some Thematic Elements|Substance Use)
Genre: Sci-Fi, Adventure, Action, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 18, 2015, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 3, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA): $81.7M
Runtime: 2h 11m

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