‘Maze Runner: Death Cure’ review: Franchise’s thrilling, but violent finale
Dylan O'Brien, left, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Giancarlo Esposito, Dexter Darden and Rosa Salazar star in "Maze Runner: The Death Cure." Credit: Twentieth Century Fox Film
Thomas, we hardly knew ye.
We certainly had fun with Thomas, the teenager who escaped from a giant labyrinth in 2014’s “The Maze Runner” and then, in the 2015 sequel, launched a revolt against the tyrants who put him there. Played by a serviceable Dylan O’Brien, Thomas reaches the end of his journey in “The Maze Runner: The Death Cure,” a hard-hitting finale to an unusually intense young-adult franchise. I think I speak for all fans of these films, though, when I ask: Who was Thomas, really, and what was his story about?
It’s possible not to care and still enjoy “The Death Cure,” which is first and foremost a big-budget action film aimed at the too-young-for-“Mad Max: Fury Road” set. It begins with a wild heist job involving a cargo train, moves on to some zombie-splattering, then wraps up with a vast, all-encompassing inferno. This series has always been known for high-impact action, but “The Death Cure” includes more than one gaping gunshot wound and crimson blood. The film seems to be betting that its fan base has grown a bit and is now ready for some truly rough stuff.
If only these films offered as much emotional resonance and depth of character as they do spectacle and action, they might have been a credible rival to “The Hunger Games.” (The series’ three-time director is Wes Ball; the screenplay is by T.S. Nowlin, working from James Dashner’s novel.)
We’re happy to join Thomas’ daring rescue of Minho (Ki Hong Lee), but nobody reminds us what made their bond so strong. The same goes for Newt (Thomas Brodie-Sangster), a young rebel who plays a more central role this time around. As for Teresa (Kaya Scodelario), her relationship with Thomas — a combination of magnetism and pragmatism — is too complicated to explain even with a 142-minute running time.
After Thomas and his crew finally break into Last City, a walled metropolis where scientists are working to cure a zombie pandemic, various subplots will be wrapped up and the movie’s villains (Patricia Clarkson as the dispassionate scientist Ava Paige and Aidan Gillen as the police-state honcho Janson) will meet their fates. It all provides a sense of completion, though that’s not the same as closure. In the end, “The Death Cure” makes for thrilling, if not deep-reaching, entertainment.
Going viral
The “Maze Runner” gang is on a mission to save the world from a deadly virus in “The Death Cure.” Here are four other movies where an outbreak — and a few breakout performances — also occurred.
JEZEBEL (1938) Bette Davis won her second Oscar for her portrayal of a Scarlett O’Hara-ish vamp in the antebellum South who tries everything to win back her true love (Henry Fonda), including coming to his rescue when he’s taken ill during a yellow fever outbreak.
PANIC IN THE STREETS (1950) Elia Kazan directed this taut New Orleans-set crime drama about the search for a killer (Jack Palance in his film debut — and billed as Walter) infected with pneumonic plague. Also in the cast as Palance’s cohort is Zero Mostel.
OUTBREAK (1995) Dustin Hoffman starred as a virologist sent to what was then known as Zaire to deal with an ebola-like virus. Also in the cast were Morgan Freeman, Rene Russo and Betsy, a capuchin monkey best remembered for playing Ross’ pet Marcel on the sitcom “Friends.”
CONTAGION (2011) An all-star cast (Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Gwyneth Paltrow, to name a few) headlined this Steven Soderbergh thriller about the efforts of health care professionals and the Centers for Disease Control to stop a deadly flu-like pandemic.
— Daniel Bubbeo
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