16 Critically Dismissed Recent Movies (That Weren't As Bad As You Think)
4. The Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials And The Maze Runner: The Death Cure
Rotten Tomatoes: 46% (Average Score: 5.41/10) and 43% (Average Score: 5.09/10)
The Scorch Trials Critical Consensus: Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials is an action-packed sequel at the cost of story, urgency, and mystery that the original offered.
The Death Cure Critical Consensus: Maze Runner: The Death Cure may offer closure to fans of the franchise, but for anyone who hasn't already been hooked, this bloated final installment is best left unseen.
The first Maze Runner film in 2014 was one of the only good YA adaptations out there and got decent reviews, but neither of the sequels were very popular at all. Considering the number of things both of these movies did right, these dismissive reviews feel ludicrously harsh.
Both The Scorch Trials and The Death Cure are flawed and filled with plot holes, but they are also enormously fun blockbuster films with smooth direction from Wes Ball, a surprisingly great cast and a compelling story that allow them to rise far above the many awful attempts at turning YA books into franchises that plagued Hollywood for years following the successes of Harry Potter and Twilight.
In fact, they're both better than the already good original film, so they worked out far better than many Hollywood sequels do.
Don't be fooled by these low scores; The Maze Runner Trilogy is, just like Harry Potter and The Hunger Games, the rare YA franchise that actually worked.