Bumblebee
Mary Poppins Returns
Halloween
Outlander
Log in with Facebook
OR
By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies, and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes and Fandango.
Please enter your email address and we will email you a new password.
Critics Consensus: Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials is an action-packed sequel at the cost of story, urgency, and mystery that the original offered.
Critic Consensus: Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials is an action-packed sequel at the cost of story, urgency, and mystery that the original offered.
All Critics (141) | Top Critics (25) | Fresh (65) | Rotten (76)
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.
The teen dystopian franchise continues to play rough, and now even rougher, with satisfying results.
With minimal plot development and far too much running around in dark corridors, The Scorch Trials has a poor story:filler ratio. And much of what happens is poorly thought-out.
The sequel is terrible and all my original criticisms for the first film still stand, but at least it's a more entertaining kind of awful.
This story was better off back in the maze.
There's no flare of strangeness or freshness here, just a pile of images and ideas stolen from smarter people's second-hand bin banged into each other for a numbingly dull 132 minutes.
Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials has everything one could ask from the middle of an action-adventure trilogy - it's brisk, it's clever and it's very well-made.
...a post-apocalyptic Young Adult-oriented narrative...For the second time around it is kind of a tough sell for Scorch Trials to get the obligatory mouse to chase after the cheese in this particular misplaced maze.
Like the first film, it too often feels like they're making up the story as they go.
The Scorch Trials too often feels like just another post-apocalyptic worldwide zombie nightmare. But at least it's a mostly entertaining one.
Better than it has any right to be, this middle chapter doesn't answer nearly enough questions, but is entertaining nonetheless.
The Scorch Trials fares best in its almost shockingly entertaining opening half hour...
The Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials continues the saga with even more riveting visuals, suspense and action-sequences. However, the second installment's steadfast overflow of new characters become overwhelming and its transitions and overall-script become a head-scratcher, ultimately making it less promising than its predecessor but still fairly decent. 3/5
Super Reviewer
A muddled story with hackish dialog. No notably good performances. Gillen was miscast and distracting, and I wasn't entirely sure he wasn't still playing Littlefinger from "Game of Thrones". There is enough action to keep it marginally interesting, however. You won't be impressed, but you'll feel you barely got you money's worth.
Fact: I enjoyed the first Maze Runner- it had me on the edge of my seat and had some solid acting from a young cast. Fact: I'm glad to say the second outing of Maze Runner- The Scorch Trials is just as good, if not better. Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials directed once again by Wes Ball is a fun, suspenseful and surprisingly action heavy outing. Is the story tight? Not really- it's still your typical run of the mill teenage dystopian story. But the thing that sets this franchise apart is the perfectly constructed atmosphere of suspense and fear. The stakes feel higher thanks to the elevated sense of the action sequences. No one feels safe thanks in par to the strong acting of the cast- where nobody feels wasted. The addition of Game of Thrones veteran Aiden Gillen as Janson is a welcome addition breathing life into his character's villany. Once again Dylan O'Brien does fine work as Thomas. In saying this the movie at times can be a bit confusing and a bit jarring in its use of conveying location to the audience and can be a bit of a trek trying to locate where the group is. The action sequences while great, can also be a bit shaky at times making it hard to decipher what's happening on screen. All in all I'm impressed with this franchise so far. Please make sure the final movie isn't split into two parts though! 4/5
This chapter is in many ways superior to the mediocre first movie, and even if it is completely derivative (think of The Hunger Games meets I Am Legend and Mad Max and you will have an idea), it does a nice job to generate excitement and tension in the action-packed scenes.
View All Quotes
View All