Dylan O'Brien's The Maze Runner Movies, Ranked
What do young adult novel adaptations, post-apocalyptic movies, and films involving shadowy corporations messing around unscrupulously have in common? For one thing, they're all a dime a dozen. For another, they're all aspects of the trilogy of films adapted from "The Maze Runner," a series of novels by author James Dashner.
Like so much YA fiction from the '00s, Dasher's novels gained a passionately loyal fan following, leading to 20th Century Fox becoming interested in developing them for the big screen in the hope that the studio would have its very own "Hunger Games." The parallels between both franchises are certainly there on the surface: preteen-to-older-teen heroes being forced to participate in deadly encounters while fighting the scourge of authoritarianism. However, where "Hunger Games" and its films are far more politically and philosophically-minded, "The Maze Runner" goes in a much more genre flick direction. It's one of the best cinematic video game movies that's not actually adapted from a video game.
That is thanks to director Wes Ball, the guru behind all three films, lending them an impressive continuity of tone and style in an era where such things as a solid, three-and-done trilogy was already going out of fashion. With his VFX background, technical know-how, and unadorned approach to filmmaking, Ball makes his "Maze Runner" films into a coherent and satisfying three-movie narrative, while also allowing each installment to look and feel distinctive.
That makes ranking the three films both supremely easy and deceptively hard, because how one feels about them comes down much more to personal preference. Suffice to say, if you choose to take the leap into the labyrinth of "Maze Runner," you're gonna find something in it to like. For now, get on your marks, get set, and crank up the volume (just don't Crank out) with the following ranking from least-best to best-best.
In general, I'm not one to subscribe to the axiom that sequels are often superior to their originals. There's usually a reason why any sequels were even made in the first place: because the original film was just that good. In the case of "The Maze Runner," however, it's ranked last because of just how much Ball, star Dylan O'Brien (who plays the titular Maze Runner, Thomas), and the rest of the cast and crew find a killer groove with the two films that follow. There's nothing "wrong" or "bad" about this first film. It's a generally faithful adaptation of Dashner's book, telling the tale of Thomas entering a mysterious environment known as The Glade, which is surrounded by a seemingly inescapable maze policed by deadly creatures known as Grievers.
Thomas and his fellow teen denizens of the Glade have no idea why they're here or who has done this to them, but a very "Lost" meets "Lord of the Flies" situation arises when Thomas proposes that merely surviving isn't enough — that there's a way to escape the maze for good. The biggest virtue of "The Maze Runner" is also it's biggest flaw: it's just about all killer, no filler, following Thomas' journey as he learns just enough information to run the maze, evade (or even kill) the Grievers and escape into what may lay beyond. If it's juicy world-building and answers to the mysteries that you're looking for, you'll unfortunately have to wait until the next two films. But if all you want is some solid sci-fi YA action set in a visually unique environment, then by all means, enter this maze.
When it comes to trilogies that actually attempt to be series cappers, the third chapter is often the most disappointing one, with such films trying to wrap up as many loose threads as possible while striving for its own unique identity. That's not the case with "The Death Cure," the third and final installment in the "Maze Runner" trilogy . This is partially because Ball and writer T.S. Nowlin make a point of giving each installment its own style: where the first film is mystery/sci-fi, and the second is post-apocalyptic horror, "The Death Cure" blends those together into a new dystopian, apocalyptic sci-fi package.
The film feels like if "The Dark Knight Rises" was set in the dystopian future Los Angeles of "Blade Runner" (or, given the film's video game influences, perhaps "Deus Ex" would work better). The last remaining city under the thumb of the WCKD corporation falls to revolutionary insurgents led by Walton Goggins' Lawrence (making this the first of two post-apocalyptic stories where Goggins appears missing his nose ). Meanwhile Thomas and his remaining Glader friends deal with various reversals, betrayals, and the possibility that Thomas may hold the cure to the deadly Crank virus. It's a big, sweeping, truly epic finale that's never less than thrilling, yet the film never feels like it's jumping any sharks or that it's getting away from Ball and his collaborators.
From the lead performances to the visual effects to the script itself, there's nothing subpar about "The Death Cure" in terms of what it puts on the screen. Really, the biggest detriment is what it leaves off the screen. That doesn't refer to what it doesn't carry over from the novels — adaptations should always go their own way, anyhow — but more to the fact that it never satisfyingly answers some of the questions and allusions dropped regarding Thomas' backstory during the first two films. Ambiguity is never automatically a flaw, yet these dangling questions do stand out more during a rewatch, leaving "The Death Cure" a fun yet somewhat incomplete curtain-closer.
A sequel to "The Maze Runner" could've gone a number of ways, either changing directors (as "The Hunger Games" and "Twilight" did), sticking too close to the books, or straying too far from them, and so on. Fortunately for us, Wes Ball returned, brought writer T.S. Nowlin back with him, and made a sequel that continues, builds upon, and bests just about every aspect of the original film.
"The Scorch Trials" is a scorcher (sorry) of a sequel, expanding the scope of the first movie into a sprawling, post-apocalyptic road movie that feels like the greatest hits of '00s genre movies and video games collected within a single film. This flick has it all: political intrigue and conspiracy, spooky zombies, deadly scavenger pirates, a scrappy rebel resistance, cold-hearted betrayal, a cliffhanger ending, a hedonist end of the world orgy party, some of the best setpieces of the '10s, and — of course — Giancarlo Esposito.
Sure, it may be a bit basic to rank the middle chapter of the trilogy the highest, but "The Scorch Trials" is simply, undeniably, the best film of the three. Heck, the fact that it deftly juggles so many returning characters while introducing new ones and with new environments, and still manages to be a pitch-perfect adaptation of both "The Maze Runner" novels and "The Last of Us" video game, is a testament to how much Ball was firing on all cylinders here. It's hard to say which film features O'Brien's finest hour as Thomas, but I'd argue for this one. His performance here proves he could not only carry a feature, but continue to find interesting new colors to the character.
Despite this ranking, let me reiterate: you cannot go wrong with "The Maze Runner" trilogy for a coherent and consistent experience. Despite its fan following, it still feels like the films are a bit under-seen and underrated, so hopefully this will get those who haven't been aware of the series or who've put off watching the films to give them a spin.
