Faintly reminiscent of Mad Max with it's exposition of wild natural elements gone astray, the sequel to Maze Runner: the Scorch Trials, offers enough entertainment for the big screen but disappoints at times with prolonged scenes and extended reel time.
The search scenes are particularly long and saw a few people sneak out of the cinema for a break or snack refill as I observed during my visit to this particular afternoon screening of the movie.
The natural elements causing the scorching or burning -including sand storms, heat waves and lack of water- reminded me of the Mad Max dry setting where nature does not nurture and is found as a threat to our few heroes escaping the 'Wicked' organisation which imprisons and tests them in the Maze Runner.
Continuing the plot of the Runner, the Scorch does offer the same maze setting in some scenes as well as allows for continuity with the same characters having similar traits which distinguish them one from the other.
The five main characters which are mostly developed are: Thomas, Newt, Minho, Teresa and Aris.
They do balance each other quite well in their relationship although do not develop with the exception of Teresa.
Thomas the protagonist remains brave and ethical, Minho is cynical but humorous and strong, Newt is sassy and careful, Aris as a new addition and offers brain assistance and guidance, and Teresa presents us with a surprise. Mixed feelings about her are ripe towards the end of the film. The doctors are a mix of good and evil, moral and immoral and there is the right amount of supporting fighter characters on both sides with a few very unusually quirky ones added to the mix in the forms of Marcus, Brenda and Jorge.
The plot is generally similar but with an expansion because there seem to be more portals and wider settings. By that I mean the heroes need to overcome more obstacles in more settings to get to the end result which is mainly the 'Right Arm' group of protectors in the mountains.
The obstacles include Nature and 'Wicked' with their Maze testing mentality putting the 'immune' subjects through trials, but the tribulations are also caused by the virus itself and the zombie like creatures who are the personification of the infected subjects.
The cure is carried by a select few including our protagonists and this makes them both bate as well as a threat to Wicked.
The settings for all of these tribulations are mainly deconstructed cities and harsh environments.
The production is limited at times and feels like it is showing us the heroes in closed rooms with fake props, especially in the longer search scenes. The horror element is at times funny if a little bit scary. The 'zombies' seem to be created with both make up/dress up handy work in the slower scenes and through digital enhancement in the quicker 'jumpy' scenes where the images are made too blurry for us to actually see them or in fact to see what is actually happening at all.
This speed and special effect trickery is a good in a way to give realism to these infected creatures but it also makes the film unclear at times because the images fleet by too quickly and we end up screeching in horror at their effect without actually seeing them. This could be evocative at times since the horror of them is a little too gory for an action film and borders on a B horror movie simulation.
The best things about the film despite its predictable settings and repeated plot lines, as well as its redundant characters and caricature zombies, are a few twists along the way including Teresa's character which surprises and confuses.
The other redeemable factor for the movie is that some shots are cleverly taken to allude to a development in the story as well as giving emotional weight to the scenes.
An example of this is when Janson, the capturing force and 'Wicked's' henchman is seen for what he really is in one scene and this is depicted in how the shot of him speaking to the kids in the canteen is taken the second time with camera behind him aiming at his back, rather than pointing at his face as a frontal shot. This gives the impression that what he is hiding behind the door at his back/behind him is sinister and is discovered by the kids, whereas in the first shot of a similar scene in the canteen the kids don't know what he was hiding behind the closed doors at his back and therefor still do not seem him as a complete threat and only see his face or see him at face value. Cleverly done as the shot of him from the back does allude to what is behind the scenes as being important and dark, as well as making us feel that what is discovered is important and changes the dynamics of the film.
Another instance of this is the scene were an infected hero is left to end his life before he turns, and the moment when we hear the shot he takes at himself the camera is on a long shot of the remaining heroes as they stand still facing the audience as shadows from a distance with the backdrop of the luminous sandy desert behind them, This is an emotionally charged scene and the shadows' long shot and accompanying stillness create a quiet moment in time which is much more effective than many other gory screechy moments during the movie,
This is slightly reminiscent of Spielberg's style of emotional buildups and emotionally invested shots but of course this is only felt at times in this film and not consistently enough to create continued engagement for the audience unfortunately.
These emotional moments as well as a sense of urgency and the obstacle build ups play in the film's favour, but the affective engagement could have been better produced generally with more connected dots so to speak and less prolonged search scenes or gory flippant fleeting horror fiction moments.
The upside down shot of the kids hanging by their feet is an engaging enough one because we wonder at whether they are actually being filmed upside down or if this is a clever camera trick at work.
Generally a film which could have been edited tighter and less prolonged.
Spielberg is renowned for his emotionally charged directing regardless of genre and this film has glimpses of this moving style of work but not enough to hold it together for two hours.
Every genre has it's style and strong points and this could have been better planned if more editing time was invested, although all in all the plot holds itself with enough content and action entertainment value for the big screen,
Scorch or Screech, successfully fiery or just plain old annoyingly screechy or somewhere in between perhaps..?
The search scenes are particularly long and saw a few people sneak out of the cinema for a break or snack refill as I observed during my visit to this particular afternoon screening of the movie.
The natural elements causing the scorching or burning -including sand storms, heat waves and lack of water- reminded me of the Mad Max dry setting where nature does not nurture and is found as a threat to our few heroes escaping the 'Wicked' organisation which imprisons and tests them in the Maze Runner.
Continuing the plot of the Runner, the Scorch does offer the same maze setting in some scenes as well as allows for continuity with the same characters having similar traits which distinguish them one from the other.
The five main characters which are mostly developed are: Thomas, Newt, Minho, Teresa and Aris.
They do balance each other quite well in their relationship although do not develop with the exception of Teresa.
Thomas the protagonist remains brave and ethical, Minho is cynical but humorous and strong, Newt is sassy and careful, Aris as a new addition and offers brain assistance and guidance, and Teresa presents us with a surprise. Mixed feelings about her are ripe towards the end of the film. The doctors are a mix of good and evil, moral and immoral and there is the right amount of supporting fighter characters on both sides with a few very unusually quirky ones added to the mix in the forms of Marcus, Brenda and Jorge.
The plot is generally similar but with an expansion because there seem to be more portals and wider settings. By that I mean the heroes need to overcome more obstacles in more settings to get to the end result which is mainly the 'Right Arm' group of protectors in the mountains.
The obstacles include Nature and 'Wicked' with their Maze testing mentality putting the 'immune' subjects through trials, but the tribulations are also caused by the virus itself and the zombie like creatures who are the personification of the infected subjects.
The cure is carried by a select few including our protagonists and this makes them both bate as well as a threat to Wicked.
The settings for all of these tribulations are mainly deconstructed cities and harsh environments.
The production is limited at times and feels like it is showing us the heroes in closed rooms with fake props, especially in the longer search scenes. The horror element is at times funny if a little bit scary. The 'zombies' seem to be created with both make up/dress up handy work in the slower scenes and through digital enhancement in the quicker 'jumpy' scenes where the images are made too blurry for us to actually see them or in fact to see what is actually happening at all.
This speed and special effect trickery is a good in a way to give realism to these infected creatures but it also makes the film unclear at times because the images fleet by too quickly and we end up screeching in horror at their effect without actually seeing them. This could be evocative at times since the horror of them is a little too gory for an action film and borders on a B horror movie simulation.
The best things about the film despite its predictable settings and repeated plot lines, as well as its redundant characters and caricature zombies, are a few twists along the way including Teresa's character which surprises and confuses.
The other redeemable factor for the movie is that some shots are cleverly taken to allude to a development in the story as well as giving emotional weight to the scenes.
An example of this is when Janson, the capturing force and 'Wicked's' henchman is seen for what he really is in one scene and this is depicted in how the shot of him speaking to the kids in the canteen is taken the second time with camera behind him aiming at his back, rather than pointing at his face as a frontal shot. This gives the impression that what he is hiding behind the door at his back/behind him is sinister and is discovered by the kids, whereas in the first shot of a similar scene in the canteen the kids don't know what he was hiding behind the closed doors at his back and therefor still do not seem him as a complete threat and only see his face or see him at face value. Cleverly done as the shot of him from the back does allude to what is behind the scenes as being important and dark, as well as making us feel that what is discovered is important and changes the dynamics of the film.
Another instance of this is the scene were an infected hero is left to end his life before he turns, and the moment when we hear the shot he takes at himself the camera is on a long shot of the remaining heroes as they stand still facing the audience as shadows from a distance with the backdrop of the luminous sandy desert behind them, This is an emotionally charged scene and the shadows' long shot and accompanying stillness create a quiet moment in time which is much more effective than many other gory screechy moments during the movie,
This is slightly reminiscent of Spielberg's style of emotional buildups and emotionally invested shots but of course this is only felt at times in this film and not consistently enough to create continued engagement for the audience unfortunately.
These emotional moments as well as a sense of urgency and the obstacle build ups play in the film's favour, but the affective engagement could have been better produced generally with more connected dots so to speak and less prolonged search scenes or gory flippant fleeting horror fiction moments.
The upside down shot of the kids hanging by their feet is an engaging enough one because we wonder at whether they are actually being filmed upside down or if this is a clever camera trick at work.
Generally a film which could have been edited tighter and less prolonged.
Spielberg is renowned for his emotionally charged directing regardless of genre and this film has glimpses of this moving style of work but not enough to hold it together for two hours.
Every genre has it's style and strong points and this could have been better planned if more editing time was invested, although all in all the plot holds itself with enough content and action entertainment value for the big screen,
Scorch or Screech, successfully fiery or just plain old annoyingly screechy or somewhere in between perhaps..?
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