Mixed Reviews for Maze Runner: Death Cure

Before the film franchise blew the theaters away for the past few years, The Maze Runner series was a popular Young Adult book that gained the interest of many teen readers. Its futuristic plot and sci-fi elements with captivating characters led the films to follow the success of the books.

Starring Dylan O’Brien as Thomas, the main protagonist, Kaya Scodelario, Ki-Hong Lee, and Thomas Sangster, the plot revolves around these young teens struggling to fight W.I.C.K.E.D., an organization that will do anything to capture immune people to find a cure to the uncontrollable disease wiping out the world population – The Flare.

Although there are five books to the Maze Runner Series, the last two books, The Kill Order and Fever Code are prequels to the first three novels. Out of the five, The Maze Runner, The Scorch Trials, and the Death Cure were the only books that were signed to make into films and the third film recently premiered to mixed reviews.  

The movie was premiered in the US on January 26th and gained $23.5 in the box office, not including international grossing, since its release. The movie seems to have a successful start in the box office but has received mixed reviews from critics and the audience. Rotten Tomatoes only gave this film a 45% while IMDB rated it a 7.1/10. Many praised Dylan O’Brien’s acting in the film, but many also criticized the anticlimactic plot.

As a huge fan of the book series, I found this movie to have little to no resemblance to the actual book. The movie was more dystopian than the book, and most of the important scenes were not in the novel, replaced by other dystopian scenes not shown in the original plot. The only feature in the movie that stayed original to the book were the characters themselves, and there were barely any added characters.

Overall, this movie failed to bring the book to life, as The Maze Runner, the first film in the franchise was the only film that followed the book’s plot. Although the book and

movie did not replicate each fully, it was a enjoyable film on its own and captured the main theme of the series, loyalty and friends.

Erin Song, Grade 11

Academy of the Canyons