“Maze Runner: The Death Cure” can be effectively described with four words: “deus ex machina,” and “contrived.” There was nothing in the film that felt genuine. The script was awful, character motivations were never explained and the plot didn’t make sense.
It was two hours, 23 minutes of watching the same two-dimensional characters get themselves into one hopeless situation after another, only to be saved at the last second by some ridiculous deus ex machina.
During the action scenes, it seemed like a new “hopeless situation” would come along every 30 seconds. Trapped in a locked room hundreds of feet above the ground with bad guys trying to break in? No problem, there’s a conveniently placed pool of water just below the window. Bad guy pointing a gun at your face? No problem, a random missile is about to come out of nowhere and hit the building you’re in, breaking his concentration. Trapped in a tunnel surrounded by zombie-creatures ready to eat you? Don’t worry, your friends are about to come out of nowhere and save you.
It got so bad I started rolling my eyes every time it started to look like the characters would face a real challenge. There was no suspense whatsoever, and the lazy story took most of the fun out of the action.
The plot elements themselves felt extremely contrived. Each event was set up very obviously with a scene in mind. For example, one character causes an explosion late in the film literally just so that there could be a dramatic (and I use that term lightly) escape from the roof of a burning building in a helicopter that arrives, conveniently, at the last second.
In addition to the simply terrible story, The Death Cure struggled with its themes, suggesting one moment that the individual should be valued equally with the greater collective and that the end doesn’t justify the means, and the next saying that those who can sacrifice themselves to save others have a responsibility to do so. Thematically, it was a contradictory mess.
The acting also felt cheesy and forced, although, I blame this more on the poorly written script than the actors themselves. Confrontations between characters came out nowhere and usually came in the form of one character screaming at another. There was no nuance whatsoever.
The Death Cure proved to be an utter disappointment, especially given the trilogy’s interesting and mysterious start, and the well-acclaimed nature of the source material. Going into the theater, I was hoping for a movie that was at least half-decent. Instead I got “The Death Cure”, a film that proved to be a waste of time and money. Do yourself a favor and read the books instead.