Technical assessment: 3 stars
Moral assessment : 3 or 2.5
CINEMA rating : V14
After
Thomas (O’Brian) and friends escape the BLADE, they find themselves in the
seeming safety and comfort of the WCKED facilities as they learn that they have
been part of the experiment conducted after the outbreak of the Flare virus.
They are fed, given clean clothes, led to comfortable quarters and introduced
to other Maze survivors. All seems well at first until Teresa (Scodelario) is
separated from the group and Aris (Lofland), the first Maze survivor, reveals
to Thomas the experiments being done on the immune survivors to find a cure
against the Flare virus. Thomas persuades his friends to escape the facilities
and face endless challenges from the Cranks to WCKED security. They meet Brenda
(Salazar) and Jorge, leaders of an underground group of survivors who help them
find the Right Arm, another resistance group of survivors and former Mazers.
However, Teresa, who believes that a cure must be found for the Flare virus
regardless of the means, betrays her friends and reveals their location to
WCKED. A fight ensues leading to the capture of several survivors and his
friends prompting Thomas to plan an attack on WCKED.
You
cannot fault SCORCH TRIALS for its action and entertainment value but it does
not necessarily mean it is a good movie adaptation or a better sequel. While
audiences are kept at the edge of their seats with the endless chase scenes,
when everything mellows, there seems not much of a storyline or character
development. There are high points in the movie—a solid performance from the
main cast, believable production design that takes us to another place, and
cool effects that keep our hearts racing. But bestselling as the novel is, the
movie offers nothing new. Dystopian societies, zombie virus, cold hearted
leaders who have no moral qualms disrespecting life to achieve a noble end have
been seen in so many movies and done in much better ways. Overall, it’s a good
watch for fans of the novel and the first movie who will forgive its
weaknesses.
Does
the end justify the means? This cliché is easier said than done because when
faced with the choice of defending someone’s rights against your personal gain,
the latter will take precedence. But such choice is sugar coated as a necessary
evil and passed on as collateral damage. Scorch
Trials show us a situation where human life is devalued for the sake preservation.
Our children are not to be experimented on—physically, emotionally or
psychologically. But every time we throw them in situations where they are
forced to helplessly defend themselves as we abandon their dignity and watch in
amusement, we do exactly as the doctors in WCKED.
