The Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials–A Good Action Flick

The Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, dir. by Wes Ball

I recently watched The Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials. The Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials is the sequel to The Maze Runner. The Maze Runner is a book series by James Dashner. In this film, Thomas and his fellow Gladers have escaped the maze. They must figure out whether WCKD is good or bad. WCKD stands for World in Catastrophe Killzone Department.

Thomas, Newt, Minho, and Teresa

Thomas (Dylan O’Brien), Newt (Thomas-Brodie Sangster), Teresa (Kaya Scodelario), Minho (Ki Hong Lee), Frypan (Dexter Darden), and Winston (Alexander Flores) become suspicious of the facility they are being held in. They are told that they are there because they are immune to the Flare. The Flare is a virus. After Thomas finds out that Immunes are being experimented on, he tells his friends that they must leave the facility. Thomas finds out about a resistance group called “The Right Arm” which is headquartered in the mountains; he and his friends decide to join the resistance group. Thomas and his crew escape from WCKD and go into the outside world known as “The Scorch.”

Our group of heroes encounter Cranks. Cranks are humans who were infected by the Flare. The Cranks are basically zombie-like. Winston becomes infected and commits suicide because he would rather die than become a Crank. The others are forced to leave him behind. Minho is struck by lightning; he survives. Minho is really tough. Thomas, Newt, Teresa, Minho, Frypan, and Aris (Jacob Lofland) meet Brenda (Rosa Salazar) and her surrogate father Jorge (Giancarlo Esposito) who are the leaders of a group of survivors. Brenda and Jorge agree to help the Gladers get to the mountains. Before they can leave though, WCKD comes because they are looking for the escaped Gladers. Brenda and Thomas get separated from Jorge and the others, but eventually reunite with them.

The group eventually gets to the mountains and finds “The Right Arm.” Brenda has been infected by a Crank and the leader of “The Right Arm,” a man named Vince (Barry Pepper) wants to shoot her. Mary Cooper (Lili Taylor), a former WCKD scientist tells him to leave Brenda alone. Mary explains that a cure for the Flare can not be manufactured because it can only be harvested from the bodies of dead Immunes. Mary had argued with Ava Paige (Patricia Clarkson) over WCKD’s method of using Mazes to find and harvest Immunes. Mary gives Brenda a shot to temporarily stop the infection from spreading.

Thomas soon finds out that Teresa is a double agent. She was secretly working for WCKD and alerted them to the group’s location. Thomas is really upset with her and feels as if she betrayed him. Teresa believes that WCKD can save evertone from the Flare. WCKD shows up and a fight ensues. Janson (Aidan Gillen), Ava, and Teresa capture many Immunes, including Minho. WCKD then leaves and goes back to their facility. Thomas decides that he will infiltrate WCKD, rescue Minho, and kill Ava. He asks the “Right Arm” and his fellow Gladers for help in carrying out this plan. They agree to help him take down WCKD.

I thought The Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials was an okay movie. It didn’t make a whole lot of sense why WCKD was not continuously searching for the escapees. The movie was at times confusing. Maybe if I had read the book, I might have understood it more. There was a lot of action in the movie. There were explosions and gunfights.

The Scorch Trials by James Dashner

I would recommend The Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials to fans of The Maze Runner book series, fans of dystopian /post-apocalyptic books and movies, and fans of action /adventure movies. I would give The Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials a B because it was a good movie, but it wasn’t a great one.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes: Very Tense Prequel to The Planet of the Apes franchise

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Rise of the Planet of the Apes is the story of how the planet of the apes came to be.  James Franco stars as Will Rodman, a scientist who is working on a cure for Alzheimer’s disease.  His dad (John Lithgow) has the disease.  Will and his team are experimenting on apes.

Caesar and Will

When it is discovered that Bright Eyes had a baby and died trying to protect him, Will brings the baby home and raises it like a father would raise his son.  Will steals his experimental drug  so that he can use it on his father. At first, this works, but then his father’s disease spreads rapidly and kills him.

Because of an altercation with a neighbor, Caesar (Andy Serkis) is sent to a sanctuary for apes. At first, Caesar is picked on for being different (he wears clothes and is smarter than everyone else).  At the sanctuary, the apes are abused by one of the sanctuary’s caretakers (Tom Felton of the Harry Potter films).  Eventually, the apes escape and save the apes from the lab where Will works, as well as the apes from the zoo.

Apes on the Golden Gate Bridge

There is a big battle on the Golden Gate Bridge in which apes and humans die.  Will knows where the apes are going—when he gets there, he tells Caesar he’s taking him home. Caesar says he is home. Caesar has bonded with the other apes.

Caesar

This movie was pretty good. It starts out as a love story between a man and an ape and then progresses into a story about apes being mistreated, which leads us to an ape revolt. The love story is not well developed. Will doesn’t shed one tear when he has to give Caesar up. The love story between Will and the vet (Freida Pinto) is also not well developed because we do not know if they are married or boyfriend and girlfriend; all we know is that they are living together.

This movie is very tense.  There is a lot of action in it.  Some scenes are scary. The acting is okay.  The special effects were good.

I would recommend this movie to fans of action movies, and fans of The Planet of the Apes films.  I would give this film a B because it is good, not great.

Green Lantern: Good Comic Book Adaptation

Green Lantern

Green Lantern, the comic book adaptation of the Green Lantern comic books, just came out in theaters. Green Lantern stars Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan / The Green Lantern. Ryan Reynolds did not seem like the superhero type to me, but he was very good in his dual roles.

Hal Jordan wearing the green ring

Hal Jordan is a fighter pilot. One night, he comes across a dying purple alien who gives him a green ring and a green lantern.  The alien, Abin Sur, tells him that he has been chosen as the next Green Lantern. Hal doesn’t know what  to think about this.

There is a very funny scene in which Hal is trying to figure out the vow to the Green Lantern. When he finally figures it out, he is transported to Oa, where the other Green Lanterns live.  He is put through training.  Because he is the first human Green Lantern, he is not accepted by the others. He wants to quit being a Green Lantern.

Peter Sarsgaard as Hector Hammond in Green Lantern

However, Hector Hammond (Peter Sarsgaard) a scientist, has inspected Abin Sur and has become infected by the alien inside Abin Sur.  This causes him to be evil.  There is a love triangle between Hal, Carol (Hal’s ex), and Hector. Carol would never be interested in Hector, but she would be interested in Hal—this is what makes Hector jealous of Hal.

Unlike other comic book movies, the characters are able to realize very quickly that Hal is the Green Lantern. Hal’s friend knows it’s him when he sees the Green Lantern in action. Why else would he go to Hal’s place to demand to know what’s going on?  Hector only finds out who the Green Lantern is when he touches him and sees what happened to Hal.

The Green Lantern in action

Pretty soon, the Parallax has come down to Earth.  It is up to Hal / The Green Lantern to save his world.  I found this part unusual, because Hal had to fight the Parallax by himself.  After he has defeated the Parallax, he returns to his training on Oa.He gets the girl (Carol).

Green Lantern is left open to a sequel with Sinestra (Mark Strong) as the villain.  I liked Green Lantern.  I liked the acting, especially Ryan Reynolds in the title role.  The special effects were good.  I didn’t like that it was so violent.  I saw it in 3D, and was not impressed because I haven’t seen any 3D movies in recent years (apparently the technology has improved).

I would recommend Green Lantern  to fans of the comic books, action / adventure fans, fans of superhero movies, and fans of movies with some comedy and romance thrown into them.  I would give Green Lantern a  B+ because it was a pretty good movie, although I found it really confusing.