Mr. Movie review: Maze Runner’s last movie good, but not a-mazing

‘Maze Runner: The Death Cure’

Maze Runner: The Death Cure is the — gratefully — last of the now three Maze Runner films based on James Dashner’s popular dystopian books. The original cast — Dylan O’Brien, Ki Hong Lee, Kaya Scodelario, Patricia Clarkson, Rosa Salazar, etc. — and director Wes Ball and writer T.S. Nowlin are all back for the swan song.

The story picks up where The Scorch Trials left off. It’s the future and the deadly Flare virus turns people into blood-thirsty, zombie-like Cranks. A ship is ready to take people who are immune to the disease to a safe haven.

O’Brien’s Thomas, Thomas Brodie-Sangster’s Newt and Dexter Darden’s Frypan can’t leave Lee’s Minho behind. He was grabbed by WCKD and turncoat Teresa and is being kept in WCKD’s stronghold the Last City. Minho — in virus expert Teresa’s mind — has the anti-bodies in his blood that can lead to a cure.

So she and Clarkson’s mad scientist leader begin brutal experiments on the young man in hopes he can save humanity.

Against the advice of cooler heads, they leave to make an impossible assault on the city and save their friend. Arriving at their destination, the group encounters a rebellion of Flare-infected but not zombified people trying to breach the city’s enormous walls.

Here’s the good news. This is the best of the three films. For me, it’s hard to decide if liking it better had more to do with not having to ever sit through another one or if I really liked the movie. Maybe a little of both. What is good about The Death Cure is that it’s the most mature and best done of the series that began in 2014.

Here’s the bad news and the death knell for The Death Cure. The effects are good and you almost buy the futuristic city setting. The young actors have all grown into their roles and have matured as actors. It’s even easy to buy the dystopian disease and the ensuing disasters.

The failure comes from an hour and a half of one predictable close call after another before Ball and crew propel the plot forward in the last hour. Doing close to 2 1/2 hours instead of just two creates a maze of a different kind.

This story was originally published January 25, 2018 at 1:27 PM with the headline "Mr. Movie review: Maze Runner’s last movie good, but not a-mazing."