So I have to start off by saying that I did read the book. I enjoyed it thoroughly, so when I heard the movie was coming out, I was excited. Now, we all have heard those people that say, “The book is always better than the movie,” but I’m not going to be “that guy.” Besides the fact that it omitted some scenes from the book, the movie was great. I loved it.

It is definitely not a stand-alone movie. You really have to see the previous movie, The Maze Runner, before you see this one. Otherwise, you will be completely lost. The movie had a great cast that worked together well. There were also at least two scenes where all sound paused and intense emotion was portrayed, which built up the suspense. I got the chills twice.

The plot, however, was mediocre. Having read the book, I realized that they omitted about 100 pages of the story line entirely. I understand that if we did the film my way, and included every detail from the book, it would have been 3 hours long. The scenes they omitted would have been hard to replicate on screen, but a key component of the plot was left out of the movie. In the book, the main character, Thomas (played by Dylan O’Brien), could telepathically speak with the female lead, Teresa (played by Kaya Scodelario).  If you ask me, that’s a pretty big thing to leave out. The two seemed close throughout the story, but the viewers were never were given an explanation for their connection. They almost seemed like siblings from the way they were depicted in the film, but if you watched The Maze Runner, you know that’s not true.

Now let’s talk about the fun stuff: the infected. While reading the book, I didn’t really think “zombies” when it described the sick people that they were trying to avoid in the scorch, but I preferred the zombie idea. I was impressed by the movie’s take on zombies, otherwise known as ‘Shanks.’ Now, compared to other zombie movies, they were very different. In I Am Legend, the zombies were intelligent, tall, pale, and very strong. In World War Z, the zombies were dumb, human-size, and looked bloody and gross. Knowing these variations of zombies, I can say that The Scorch Trials took on the idea of the disgusting creatures in their own way. The Shanks had either dark red or black blood, which looked great on screen, and actually had a good story behind them. Some of them didn’t have eyes because when they were human and became infected. They saw visions, went crazy, and gouged out their eyes so they don’t have to see the awful things anymore. This part (from what I remember) was not in the book and was a great addition to the movie. Overall, I liked the implementation of infected characters. They were not overused throughout the movie, which is good because the main focus of the movie was intended to be about fighting WCKD, the corporation that used the kids for their blood.

Overall the movie was great. They left off with a cliffhanger so I will be waiting eagerly for the sequel. I would recommend The Scorch Trials to anyone who likes post-apocalyptic movies. Make sure that you watch The Maze Runner first, and then you will most likely enjoy The Scorch Trials. The two films do branch off of one another, but are still completely different.

I would give the movie a rating of 3.5 out of 5. For some perspective, I would give Maze Runner a 2.75 out of 5.

I hope you enjoy your film-watching experience.