‘Maze Runner’ conclusion fulfills expectations

The long-awaited conclusion to the “Maze Runner” trilogy has finally arrived.

“Maze Runner: The Death Cure” was released in theaters on Jan. 26, 2018 nationwide. Directed by Wes Ball, the film has gracefully concluded the story of Thomas and his fellow Gladers in their last battle against WCKD (World Catastrophe Kill Zone Department).

In this film Thomas (Dylan O’Brien), Newt (Thomas Brodie-Sangster) and Frypan (Dexter Darden) embark on a journey to rescue Minho (Ki Hong Lee), who was captured by WCKD. Running into familiar faces, they get into the last city where WKCD has taken over and has put up walls to keep the non-immune people out of these boarders.

Ball, who has directed both the first and second installment of the ‘Maze Runner’ series, has elaborately brought the movies from start to finish alongside the writer T.S Nowlin, who wrote the screenplay for all three films.

It’s very rare to have a movie franchise where you have the same writer and director for all movies in one series, but because of this they were able to develop the characters and the plot of the movie more smoothly.

If you take a look at other film franchises, such as ‘Twilight’, there is a different director for each film except the last two. This is because of creative differences between the studio, the producers, and even the author of the book. According to an article from Entertainment Weekly ; “Why do so many directors leave major franchise after the first film?” by Nicole Sperling.

Ball’s closeness with the actors and the writer really allowed for the character development to shine.

In the first movie, Thomas and his fellow Gladers are merely scared teenage boys with no memory of their past life’s, only with the memory of their names.

In the second film, ‘The Scorch Trials’, you see how their relationships have grown, and each character’s personality grows a little more as they are faced with different tasks. Then in this final film you really have a feel for each character’s spirit.

The movie was originally planned to come out Feb. of 2017, but because of an on set injury the production was put on hiatus. O’Brien was involved in a vehicle accident on set, and was severely injured. Fox then put the production on hold to allow for O’Brien to heal, and resumed filming in Feb. of 2017.

‘Maze Runner’ is an action packed, thrill seeking, emotion filled ride from the start of the movie to the very end. It was composed by John Paesano, who also created the music for both the first and second movie.

His familiarity with these films really helped him conduct his music to match the mood of the scenes.

Like all good movie franchises we hate to see them go, but Ball has ended the series in a gracious way. The prolonged conclusion to this action packed and gripping series offers viewers a great deal of closure, along with a hint of nostalgia.