Maze Runner: The Death Cure | |
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Directed by | Wes Ball |
Produced by |
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Screenplay by | T.S. Nowlin |
Based on | The Death Cure by James Dashner |
Starring | |
Music by | John Paesano |
Cinematography | Gyula Pados |
Edited by | |
Production company |
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Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
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142 minutes[1] | |
Country | United States |
Budget | $62 million[2] |
Box office | $288.3 million[2] |
Maze Runner: The Death Cure (also known simply as The Death Cure) is a 2018 American dystopianscience fictionaction film directed by Wes Ball and written by T.S. Nowlin, based on the novel The Death Cure written by James Dashner. It is the sequel to the 2015 film Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials and the third and final installment in the Maze Runner film series. The film stars Dylan O'Brien, Kaya Scodelario, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Dexter Darden, Nathalie Emmanuel, Giancarlo Esposito, Aidan Gillen, Walton Goggins, Ki Hong Lee, Jacob Lofland, Katherine McNamara, Barry Pepper, Will Poulter, Rosa Salazar, and Patricia Clarkson.
Maze Runner: The Death Cure was originally set to be released on February 17, 2017, in the United States by 20th Century Fox, but the studio rescheduled the film's release for January 26, 2018, in theatres and IMAX, allowing time for O'Brien to recover from injuries he sustained during filming. The film received mixed reviews from critics and grossed over $288 million worldwide.
- 3Production
- 4Release
- 5Reception
Plot[edit]
Thomas, Newt, and Frypan are the last of the free 'Gladers' immune to the Flare virus that has ravaged the world's population. They and The Right Arm resistance conduct a rescue operation where they retrieve other Immunes from a train operated by WCKD, an organization responsible for capturing and experimenting on immune children. They discover that Minho, their remaining Glader friend whom WCKD had captured, was not on that train, which is headed to 'The Last City', WCKD's base of operations. Against the orders of Vince, leader of The Right Arm, the three leave their camp to rescue Minho, who is being tortured by WCKD in hopes of developing a cure for the virus. Heading for the Last City, the group is attacked by Cranks, humans infected with the Flare. However, they are saved by Jorge and Brenda, who join them.
The group makes it to the wall of the Last City, which protects the city from Cranks. Outside the wall, people are rallying in protest to be let into the city. When WCKD opens fire at the protesters, the group is captured by a contingent of masked men and are taken to a hideout. One of the masked men is revealed to be Gally, who survived Minho's attack. Gally takes them to see Lawrence, a rebellion leader for those outside the walls, who helps them enter the Last City through a secret entrance. Gally leads Thomas and Newt through to the city and, spotting Teresa, Gally tells Thomas that he can get them into WCKD headquarters. Newt then confides to Thomas that he is infected. Promising to cure him, the three capture Teresa.
Disguised as WCKD soldiers, Thomas, Newt, and Gally escort Teresa inside WCKD headquarters and toward the location of the Immunes. Gally looks after the Immune children and stays to find a serum that slows the Flare, while Thomas, Newt, and Teresa go to find Minho. They are discovered and chased by Janson. Teresa lets them escape to find Minho before rushing to do a blood test on Thomas' blood, which she obtained when removing trackers from the Gladers.
Having delivered the Immune children and the serum to Brenda, Gally returns to WCKD headquarters to find Thomas. Brenda is forced to flee with the Immune children to avoid capture. Thomas and Newt reunite with Minho in the medical wing. Teresa discovers that Thomas' blood can cure the Flare. She shares her discovery with WCKD's leader, Ava Paige, both agreeing that they must find Thomas. Brenda and the Immune children escape WCKD with Frypan's help. Meanwhile, Lawrence rallies his rebels outside the city before blowing a hole in the city wall, sacrificing himself to allow his allies and the infected people to storm the city. Gally finds Thomas, Minho, and Newt. Newt, sending Minho and Gally ahead to get the serum from Brenda, gives Thomas a pendant before passing out. Teresa transmits her voice throughout the city, telling Thomas that his blood can save Newt if he will only return to WCKD. Newt, nearly consumed by the Flare, regains consciousness and attacks Thomas, while begging Thomas to kill him. When Thomas refuses, Newt – left with no other option – stabs himself.
Thomas makes his way back to WCKD and confronts Ava. However, she is killed by Janson, who is infected by the Flare. Janson knocks Thomas out and drags him to a lab where Teresa is ready to extract his blood. However, he reveals that he is only truly interested in curing himself and others that he feels are worthy, which results in Teresa turning on him. After a fight, Janson is killed by Cranks, allowing Thomas and Teresa to escape to the rooftop, where Teresa gives Thomas a vial with the cure. Their allies suddenly appear in an aircraft: Thomas makes it aboard, but Teresa dies when the headquarters collapses in on itself.
The group reunites with the rest of the Immunes and The Right Arm, escaping to a safe haven, where the remaining population can live in safety. There, Thomas discovers that the pendant Newt gave him had a note in it. Still traumatized by his friends' deaths, he reads the note, in which Newt tells him to look after everyone, before thanking Thomas for being his friend. While standing on the beach and looking out towards the ocean, Thomas takes the vial of the cure out of his pocket and looks expectantly into the sunrise.
Cast[edit]
- Dylan O'Brien as Thomas
- Kaya Scodelario as Teresa
- Thomas Brodie-Sangster as Newt
- Dexter Darden as Frypan
- Nathalie Emmanuel as Harriet
- Giancarlo Esposito as Jorge
- Aidan Gillen as Janson
- Walton Goggins as Lawrence
- Ki Hong Lee as Minho
- Jacob Lofland as Aris
- Katherine McNamara as Sonya
- Barry Pepper as Vince
- Will Poulter as Gally
- Rosa Salazar as Brenda
- Patricia Clarkson as Ava Paige
Production[edit]
In March 2015, it was confirmed that T.S. Nowlin, who co-wrote the first and wrote the second film, would adapt Maze Runner: The Death Cure.[3] On September 16, 2015, it was confirmed that Ball would return to direct the final film.
Filming[edit]
Principal photography began on March 14, 2016, in Vancouver, British Columbia.[4][5] Previously it was revealed at San Diego Comic-Con International that filming would begin in February 2016.[6]
On March 18, 2016, it was reported that actor Dylan O'Brien was injured on set and was hospitalized. James Dashner announced via Twitter that the production was postponed after the accident.[7] It was said that the producers were 'looking to' resume filming around mid-May.[8] According to the Directors Guild of Canada's production list, the film was scheduled to resume filming on May 9, and complete principal photography on July 26. However, on April 29, 2016, production was shut down indefinitely as O'Brien's injuries were more serious than previously thought.[9]
Filming resumed on March 6, 2017 in Cape Town, South Africa.[10][11][12] In May 2017, it was announced that Walton Goggins would play the part of Lawrence, described as 'an unusual and dangerous character who is part-revolutionary, part-anarchist, and a voice for the voiceless people.'[13] Principal photography wrapped on June 3, 2017.[14]
Visual effects[edit]
The visual effects are provided by Weta Digital and Supervised by Chris White[15]
Release[edit]
It was originally scheduled to be released in the United States on February 17, 2017.[16] However, due to Dylan O'Brien's injuries, the studio said that it was unlikely that this date was going to be met.[9] On May 27, 2016, 20th Century Fox rescheduled the film for January 12, 2018,[17] allowing time for Dylan O'Brien to fully recover.[18]
On April 22, 2017, the studio delayed the release date once again, to February 9, 2018, in order to allow more time for post-production; months later, on August 25, the studio moved the release forward two weeks.[19][20] The film premiered on January 26, 2018, in theatres and IMAX.[21][22]
Home media[edit]
The pillow company buckwheat. Maze Runner: The Death Cure was released on Blu-Ray and DVD on April 24, 2018.[23]
Reception[edit]
Box office[edit]
Maze Runner: The Death Cure grossed $58million in the United States and Canada, and $230.1million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $288.2million, against a production budget of $62million.[2]
In the United States and Canada, The Death Cure was released alongside the wide expansion of Hostiles, and was expected to gross around $20 million from 3,786 theaters in its opening weekend.[24] The film made $1.5 million from Thursday night previews, in between the $1.1 million made by the first film and $1.7 million by the second, and $8.4 million on its first day. It ended up opening to $24.2 million, down from the previous film but still finishing atop the box office.[25] In its second weekend the film dropped 57% to $10.5 million, finishing second behind Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle.[26]
A week prior to its North American release, the film debuted in South Korea, Australia and Taiwan, grossing $15.1 million over its opening weekend.[24] During the first two weeks of international release, the film dominated the international box office taking $62.6 and $35.2 million respectively, and outpacing the two previous films.[27][28]
Critical response[edit]
On review aggregatorRotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 43% based on 163 reviews, and an average rating of 5.14/10. The website's critical consensus reads, 'Maze Runner: The Death Cure may offer closure to fans of the franchise, but for anyone who hasn't already been hooked, this bloated final installment is best left unseen.'[29] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 51 out of 100, based on 37 critics, indicating 'mixed or average reviews'.[30] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of 'B+' on an A+ to F scale.[25]
Accolades[edit]
Year | Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result |
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2018 | BreakTudo Awards[31] | International Actor | Dylan O'Brien | Won |
Teen Choice Awards[32] | Choice Action Movie | Maze Runner: The Death Cure | Nominated | |
Choice Action Movie Actor | Dylan O'Brien | Nominated | ||
Choice Movie Ship | Dylan O'Brien & Kaya Scodelario | Nominated | ||
Choice Movie Villain | Aidan Gillen | Nominated |
References[edit]
- ^'MAZE RUNNER: THE DEATH CURE (2018) (12A)'. British Board of Film Classification. January 17, 2018. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
- ^ abc'Maze Runner: The Death Cure'. Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved July 22, 2018.
- ^Busch, Anita (March 4, 2015). ''Maze Runner: The Death Cure' Sets T.S. Nowlin To Pen'. Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved March 10, 2015.
- ^'The Maze Runner 3 to begin filming in Vancouver in March'. Vancity Buzz. January 18, 2016. Retrieved February 8, 2016.[permanent dead link]
- ^A., Aliza (March 9, 2016). ''The Maze Runner: Death Cure' News And Updates: Filming Confirmed; Release Date Set On February'. Jobs & Hire. Retrieved March 12, 2016.
- ^@ClevverTV (July 9, 2015). 'The script for Death Cure is currently being worked on & will begin filming in February #ScorchTrials #ScorchSneakPeek' (Tweet). Retrieved July 10, 2015 – via Twitter.
- ^Zumberge, Marianne (March 18, 2016). ''Maze Runner' Star Dylan O'Brien Injured on Set'. Variety. Penske Business Media. Retrieved March 18, 2016.
- ^Malkin, Mark (April 5, 2016). 'Maze Runner Star Dylan O'Brien Healing Very Well After On-Set Accident, Will Return to Work in About Six Weeks'. E!. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
- ^ abFord, Rebecca; Kit, Borys (April 29, 2016). 'Dylan O'Brien's Injuries Force 'Maze Runner' Sequel to Extend Production Shut Down'. The Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
- ^Wilson, Lena (August 29, 2016). 'Maze Runner: The Death Cure Resumes Filming In February'. Screen Rant. Retrieved August 31, 2016.
- ^Bailey, Ian (September 4, 2016). 'Maze Runner film production leaving B.C. for South Africa'. The Globe and Mail. Retrieved September 5, 2016.
- ^Ball, Wes [@wesball] (March 2, 2017). 'Big day today. Shot two scenes in 7 hours (that's a short day for me). Also prelit a set for tomorrow. Then watched dailies.. Pretty stuff' (Tweet). Retrieved April 23, 2018 – via Twitter.[non-primary source needed]
- ^Hipes, Patrick (May 10, 2017). 'Walton Goggins Set For 'Maze Runner: The Death Cure''. Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
- ^Ball, Wes [@wesball] (June 4, 2017). 'That's a wrap! Thanks to a great cast and crew for a hell of an experience' (Tweet). Retrieved April 23, 2018 – via Twitter.[non-primary source needed]
- ^'MAZE RUNNER: THE DEATH CURE - The Art of VFXThe Art of VFX'. www.artofvfx.com. Retrieved January 1, 2019.
- ^Chitwood, Adam (April 18, 2015). 'MAZE RUNNER: THE DEATH CURE Set for 2017 Release; Miraculously Not Being Split into Two Movies'. Collider. Complex Media. Retrieved June 29, 2015.
- ^'Maze Runner: The Death Cure'. Launching Films. Film Distributors' Association. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
- ^McNary, Dave (May 28, 2016). 'Dylan O'Brien's 'Maze Runner: Death Cure' Release Pushed Back to 2018'. Variety. Penske Business Media. Retrieved August 31, 2016.
- ^Ball, Wes [@wesball] (April 22, 2017). 'Hey maze fans. Don't worry. Release date shifted 4 weeks. It's a good thing. I get four more weeks of vfx finals, sound mixing, editing' (Tweet). Retrieved April 23, 2018 – via Twitter.[non-primary source needed]
- ^Gallagher, Brian (April 24, 2017). 'Maze Runner 3: Death Cure Gets Delayed Yet Again'. MovieWeb. Watchr Media. Retrieved March 17, 2018.
- ^Anthony, D'Allessandro (April 22, 2017). ''Deadpool 2', 'New Mutants' & 'Dark Phoenix' Find 2018 Dates Among Fox's Slew of Release Changes & Additions'. Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
- ^Dave, McNary (August 25, 2017). 'Steven Spielberg's Pentagon Papers Movie Re-Titled 'The Post''. Variety. Penske Business Media. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
- ^'Maze Runner: The Death Cure (DVD)'. Amazon. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
- ^ abMcNary, Dave (January 23, 2018). 'Box Office: 'Maze Runner: The Death Cure' Races Toward $20 Million Opening'. Variety. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
- ^ abD'Alessandro, Anthony (January 28, 2018). 'Fox Controls Close To 40% Of Weekend B.O. Led By 'Maze Runner' & Oscar Holdovers; 'Hostiles' Gallops Past $10M'. Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved January 28, 2018.
- ^D'Alessandro, Anthony (February 4, 2018). ''Jumanji' Poised To Be Dwayne Johnson's Highest Grossing Pic of All-Time Stateside After Super Bowl Weekend Rebound'. Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved February 4, 2018.
- ^McNary, Dave (January 28, 2018). 'Box Office: 'Maze Runner: The Death Cure' Dominates With $62.6 Million Internationally'. Variety. Penske Business Media. Retrieved February 5, 2018.
- ^McNary, Dave (February 4, 2018). ''Maze Runner: The Death Cure' Sprints to $35 Million at International Box Office'. Variety. Penske Business Media. Retrieved February 5, 2018.
- ^'Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018)'. Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved May 20, 2019.
- ^'Maze Runner: The Death Cure Reviews'. Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved January 28, 2018.
- ^'Tiffany Young Wins K-pop Female Artist at the 2018 BreakTudo Awards'. allkpop.com. Allkpop. Retrieved October 25, 2018.
- ^'Teen Choice Awards 2018: See the full list of winners'. EW.com. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved August 13, 2018.
External links[edit]
Wikiquote has quotations related to: Maze Runner: The Death Cure |
- Official website
- Maze Runner: The Death Cure on IMDb
In the end it's quality is on par with the other 2 similar series (Divergent and Hunger Games), so, gets a 5 star 'meh' out of me. Good for kids but intelligent people beware!
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With that preface out of the way how about I list off some fun little plot holes and inconsitencies that I could find within The Death Cure with some tying back to the first 2 movies. I'll try and go in order of appearance.
1: 6 months supposedly has passed since the ending of Scorch Trials and start of Death Cure but for some reason WCKD is only just now transporting Minho and others from some unknown location to their headquarters.2: The plane they hijack is alone and lands for no reason when they corner Jorge and Brenda instead of just shooting them.3: Thomas is dead set on saving Minho, who he doesn't even know for sure is alive, and barely gives notice to Aris or the other people he could be saving. Also Aris and the rest make no apperances besides the first 15 minutes and ending.4: Minho is being tortured in a simulation, which he doesn't realize is fake for some reason, which begs the question why WCKD wasted massive amounts of time and resources building a huge maze when they displayed and admitted the simulation works. This also begs the question of why they wouldn't just treat the immune people very nicely so they would have no reason to care if they are being tested.5: Thomas, Fry and Newt drive slowly through a tunnel they are highly suspecting is full of zombies when they could easily have driven faster to avoid them.6: All other cities have been reduced to rubble but Jorge upon seeing the walls says they are new implying the city was still shining and fine before they raised the walls. If it wasn't shining and fine this implies enough people had resources to rebuild a ruined city to modern comfort.7: Thomas and other tagged people aren't trackable by that tag until it is convenient for the plot.8: Gally survived the ending of the first Maze Runner somehow even though he was infected and punctured through the lungs with a spear. This implies people arrived very shortly after Thomas and the others were flown away, removed the spear, performed surgery, and have been giving him serum for a minimum of 6 months. Gally may also be a cure considering a girl later in the movie was only infected for 3 weeks and still turned into a zombie even after serum injection. Nobody turned him over to WCKD for any profit when he was clearly a test subject. This is where I would have left the theatre.9: Thomas never considered that his blood was a cure 6 months after Brenda was treated because he is a moron. WCKD was apparently also full of complete morons to not realize Thomas was a cure before the events of the first Maze Runner.10: Gally was correct in that they did not need Teresa to enter WCKD HQ as they only needed her thumbprint. They could have done what he suggested and cut it off and saved themselves large issues while also maintaining her hostage. Thomas stopped him because he still had feelings for her even though she was the direct reason for Minho's capture as well as the deaths of many others.11: Gally, Thomas and Newt suddenly have WCKD security uniforms supposedly because Teresa acquired them to use but they still insist on bringing her along as well as stupidly removing their masks at one point.12: They raid the cell block but do not arm the immunes with the weapons of the guards they just took out as well as leaving Gally to retrieve the serum when Newt could have immediately used it upon acquisition. They also do not simply use the helicopter they have to extract the immunes under the pretense of guarded evacuation.13: Thomas and Newt have the opportunity to incapacitate or kill Janson while alone in the elevator but simply avoid suspicion even though it backfires. Teresa also locks them in later although she could have easily stated Thomas and Newt were in the elevator leading to their capture faster with less incident.14: Gally leaves to find Thomas and Newt but is revealed to have just been outside the building later.15: Thomas, Newt and Minho lock themselves in a room with a lock that should not exist, survive a jump from at least 5 stories into a pool they do not know the depth of with no injuries as well as Janson or the soldiers deciding not to shoot them when they have clear shots from a vantage point.16: The bus full of immunes driven by Brenda somehow makes it to exactly where it needs to be without being stopped as well as not falling soon after being lifted.17: Brenda and Fry return to the outcast hideout only to sit and do nothing even though the entire city is exploding in the distance.18: The outcasts destroy the entire city even though they wanted in and it does not benefit them in almost any way. They also could have entered the walls the same way Thomas, Gally and Newt entered earlier but were too stupid to do so.19: The helicopter Jorge flies in does not get shot down although there is no indication it isn't WCKD controlled. A scene of a different helicopter being shot down is shown later to confirm this could happen.20: Newt turns into a zombie even though outcasts clearly had access to serum they could have taken with them in case Newt started to turn. He also had the opportunity to disarm himself before turning but did not for no reason.21: Janson shoots Dr. Paige even though she would be a valuable scientist regardless of affiliation due to her knowledge on the virus. Also the bullet does not pass through her into Thomas.22: Janson has no qualms about killing either Teresa or Thomas even though they are both now very valuable to his plan of vaccine monopoly. They also do not threaten him with this fact23: The glass on the zombie enclosement does not shatter when missiles hammer the building but shatters on it's own when an injured Thomas hits it with a microscope.24: Thomas kisses Teresa and empathizes with her even though she was the direct reason many people were killed as well as Minho's capture.25: Teresa could have made the jump to the helicopter as she was not injured like Thomas. The argument about the helicopter not getting closer is somewhat defensible due to the massive heat updraft that would surround the building as well as wind splash off the roof possibly disrupting flight stabilization.26: Thomas carves Teresa's name on the rock although it would quickly be defaced as a portion of the people who died are also carved on the rock.27: Thomas is the potential cure for a zombie virus that has destroyed almost all of humanity but is now isolated with no evidence shown people have the knowledge to create a cure from his blood.
PHEW, and that's just the stuff I could find easily. One of the few positive things to come out of this movie is how NOT to write things. The only reason I gave it a 2/10 is because of how nice some of the effects and sets are even though sadly they are in a trash movie.
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The ending climax scene just had me shaking my head at how nonsensical it was (let's not bother to back up the hovercraft another foot or two for dramatic effect). And apparently no one knows how to perform basic first aid. inside of a hospital? The cliche and overdone 'ha you missed.' 'DID I?' scene that I saw coming from a mile away. The evil bad man character that is so one-dimensional.
Really it seemed like every single scene was a parody of every other teen movie because the script was so poor.
And holy hell did they draw out the scenes that were meant to be 'sad' but just fell completely flat. one of the deaths stretched on for 10min even though his character was barely in the rest of the movie and had no importance.
On the other end of the spectrum the movie killed off a main character for the most ridiculous reason that was entirely avoidable if the characters weren't complete idiots, and no one seemed to care about her pointless death.
All in all it's just a mind-numbingly stupid teen zombie movie with a bunch of artificial action sequences stuffed in. Worth renting and falling asleep to I suppose, or Netflix and chill?
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The film is full of absurdities from its first moments. To name only a few, an aerial gunship can't hit or disable a pickup truck, and a Glader somehow gets into cockpit of the operating enemy gunship without the pilot noticing until she points a gun at the pilot. The WCKD are painfully stupid one-dimensional dummies. Their troopers seem unable to hit anything with high-powered weapons. Later, WCKD Troopers with automatic weapons surrounding a bus with vehicles on all sides can't stop it. The Gladers quickly kill numerous WCKD troopers but there are numerous scenes where WCKD has opportunity to kill the Gladers but want them expect them to put their hands up and play nicely until they can overpower and escape.
Over and over, Gladers virtually can't be hit or stopped where WCKD are totally incapable. These absurdities dispense of any suspense regarding how the film will turn out. Aiden Gillen, who was an intriguing character in GoT, here is reduced to a kind of Elmer Fudd-like villian, bumblingly stupid and incompetent beyond belief. It's a disgraceful script for a talented actor.
The Gladers seemed to have no more ethics or morals than WCKD, and probably less. They had no qualms about killing and no concern for the larger society beyond their group of friends, whereas the WCKD doctor and researchers seemed to genuinely want to reverse the virus and help the citizenry to the extent possible.
The hubris of this film's marathon length 2 hours 22 minutes made the series of absurdities excruciating, and it never got better. Whereas good sci-fi and fantasy films have enough internal consistency to engage the viewer, Maze Runner: The Death Cure had so many internal contradictions and problems that I was never able to suspend my disbelief long enough to find any enjoyment.
If you aren't a dedicated longtime fan of the series, skip this one. Save 2 1/2 hours of your life for something better. You'll be glad you did.
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There were lots of other stupid parts in the movie.
So my verdict, really crappy movie.
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Imagine two hours and twenty minutes that could have been compressed into a five minute How It Should Have Ended animation (which would have been better). Kids are good, WICKED is bad (duh!), bullets kind of care about that because they fly away from the good guys and things just happen to be where you need them to be for them to escape and not kill anyone, not even the bad guys, because they are the good guys. A lot of talk, a lot of talk, then some talk, followed by more talk. The last part of the movie has all the action sequences and they are all Michael Bayish.
Bottom line: I don't think they even tried to make it a good movie. It was all algorithmic. Why end a series that at least started interesting with a twist, or some nice action, or anything resembling a story? No. Take any other YA movie and copy paste it over these characters. It's like creativity costs money for these people. It's like it hurts them, like the sun kills bugs. It was so boring that it wasn't even funny.
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The plot boils down to a group of characters rescuing one of the friends, Minho, of the protagonist, Thomas, while some people work on the cure for a virus. The virus is of course as unoriginal as possible (it turns the infected into the stereotypical zombie). The plan to save Minho is ridiculous, it consists of putting him and other people immune to the virus in a bus, lift it with a crane from the inside of the city and drop it outside of the walls that border it. Of course, the bumpers must have been incredibly strong since they remain attached to the bus when it is lifted by the crane, plus the immune kids must also be invisible because none of them die or are hurt when the bus falls.
I must say I have a couple of questions. Why do mainstream movies have to end with 'epic' explosions? Why are the main characters always being shot at when they are running, but they are asked nicely to calm down and to surrender when they have nowhere to go until a deus ex machina appears? Why does the bad guy, the one trained to kill people, who has an army at his command armed to the teeth, playing catch up with a bunch of teenagers for 30 min? If the first five times when he almost caught them were not exciting, do you think the next twenty will be? Are we supposed to care about Teresa's death? Didn't the movie spend 2/3 of its time painting her in a bad light? You know, the untrustworthy chick? Where is the character arc? Where is the plot twist? The suspense?
Apart from the weak story, the acting is mediocre, and the directing was full of problems too. Instead of the action being fluid, it is shot by sections making it look clumsy and awkward. For example, there is a scene where one of the good guys throws a grenade, but instead of being thrown and it exploding, there a shot of it being thrown, a show of it shown where it lands, a zoom in of the faces of the bad guys looking at each other worried because it is going to explode, it exploding from a different angle, and a shot of the good guys celebrating. This type of editing removes the fluidity of a shot and disconnects you from it. I could go on and one, but I think I made my point.
However, if you liked the first and, specially, if you liked the second movie, I'm pretty sure you will enjoy this one too!
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Nothing seemed to make any sense; the plot, the action.. Nothing made sense.
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If I'm being completely honest, The Death Cure actually served as a perfectly fitting end to an above average young adult series. I don't consider myself a fan per say, but if I was, I'm guessing I would absolutely love this film. It ties up loose ends and finds a way to close out the series in a surprisingly emotional send-off.
It's much different than say The Hunger Games, which ended the series on a completely sour and disappointingly safe note, The Death Cure takes some chances and didn't have the beat for beat moments I expected from a YA adaptation. O'Brien, who is shaping himself out to be a force in this business, provided another solid lead performance and he's surrounded by equally efficient turns from Kaya Scodelario, Aidan Gillen, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Giancarlo Esposito, and Rosa Salazar. None of them take the material too seriously, something the Divergent series had a problem with, but they found a right balance of heart and humor.
It's far from perfect, and for those who don't appreciate a good YA adaptation every once in awhile likely won't find anything here to like, but The Death Cure was immensely better than I expected. Sometimes that's all you need a film to be.
6.9/10
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