‘Maze Runner: The Death Cure’ Is Charming but Predictable

After being postponed for nearly an entire year following the injuries Dylan O’Brien sustained while filming, Maze Runner: The Death Cure stumbles through the game and brings the series to a close. Ever since viewing The Scorch Trials, the series’ second installment, I’ve contested that they’re most enjoyable if you view them as completely unrelated stories. The same can be said for the third. The Maze Runner (2014) was a charming story reminiscent of The Lord of the Flies with some tweaks. Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials played like an extended episode of The Walking Dead where the government is still holding on by a thread [Fear the Walking Dead…??]. The Death Cure plays like The Fast and the Furious had a baby with Mad Max.

Which doesn’t mean that it’s bad. Just that you should know what you’re going to get when you go in: a mostly predictable visual spectacle full of beautiful scenery, eery-looking creatures, and larger-than-life explosions. I originally got interested in the series solely off of my interest in Dylan O’Brien, following his stint as the most talented cast member on MTV’s Teen Wolf [take that for what you will]. I was pleasantly surprised to see some otherwise familiar faces appear and deliver along the way in Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Giancarlo Esposito, Aidan Gillen and Walton Goggins. I was also introduced to talents I’d previously been unaware of, such as Ki Hong Lee and Rosa Salazar, that I’ll be keeping an eye out for. For those uninitiated, the serie…