I have to admit it… I have been caught up in the young adult dystopian novel and film phenomenon for the past few years. Even though much of what is being produced now seems to be so mainstream and somewhat cliche, I think the genre has risen in popularity because of its relevance to the fears of the new millennium. Our collective subconscious has become plagued by visions of oppressive governments, the end of the world (no doubt stirred by shows like the Walking Dead), and political expediency. I think when we journey into these stories, we see how easy it is for our world to slip into the same sort of turmoil.

Which might be why I connected so well with the Maze Runner series. I must have finished the four books (The Maze Runner, The Scorch Trials, The Death Cure, The Kill Order) in a little more than a week during the winter of 2014. Although I loved Katniss, the strong female lead of the The Hunger Games, I was drawn to The Maze Runner’s leading male, Thomas. Although I do not want to spoil the books, I will say that the series (with one more book to come in 2016) is a fast-paced story packed with tyranny, brotherhood, betrayal, and love. The book series takes risks and has a shock-value that is rarely seen in the genre. Even more than the Hunger Games, James Dashner writes the Maze Runner series in a way that it’s not hard to believe that the events could not become true someday.

Unsurprisingly, the book series made its way onto the big screen. The Maze Runner was a box-office hit, grossing almost $350 Million. The movie was a deft depiction of the novel. In so many ways, it accentuated one of The Maze Runner’s many themes of brotherhood and the idea of doing whatever it takes to help your friends. It brought to life W.C.K.D., the principal antagonistic government of the series, which sought to use young children as test subjects to find a cure for The Flare. It was fast, violent, and stuck closely to The Maze Runner’s original plot. With this huge success in the back of its pocket, I really expected nothing less from the second installation, The Scorch Trials. Arguably the most riveting and aggressive novel in the series, the second book provided a further foundation for its predecessor and the other two books. It explained so many of our questions while still maintaining its sense of mystery that made us clawing over to the other two books. With this in mind, I was so looking forward to seeing some of the most critical scenes in the book brought to cinema.

And I could have not been more let down. Sure, film adaptations can’t have it all. Minor scenes have to either be reworked into a bigger scene or left out entirely. That’s basic screenwriting. But what’s not acceptable is to entirely cut out several major scenes and plotlines that made the book what it was. This makes the movie a completely different story and sets the next film up for failure. And that’s what happened with The Scorch Trials.

(Note: Skip the following if you do not want a spoiler)

There were scenes in the book that were absolutely necessary to plot development, character relationship building, and the overall direction of the series that were left out or completely altered. Here are a few of my main grievances:

The Scorch Trials is Phase 2, not just a scary jaunt in the desert. In the book, our main cast of friends were made to believe that traveling the perilous Scorch was Phase 2 of W.C.K.D’s experiment. They were told that this phase would help them find the safe haven and the cure. This provided a crucial reason for their time spent in the desert and would provide the setup for the main betrayal of the movie But in the movie, the characters are just being chased by Jansen (in the book as “Rat Man”), frolicking throughout The Scorch in search of the Right Arm (which never happened in the book) with no clear direction or purpose.

The Cranks are not as simple as the zombies from World War Z. The film depicts The Flare as a black-and-white disease that it was never supposed to be. The Flare has different levels of affliction. In the book, some of the Cranks that the group encounters can actually have limited conversations and are living somewhat normal lives. The Flare is a slow, degenerative disease. Without this aspect of the disease made clear, it will be difficult to recreate some of the other most critical scenes of the series.

The film depicts The Flare as a black-and-white disease that it was never supposed to be. The Flare has different levels of affliction. In the book, some of the Cranks that the group encounters can actually have limited conversations and are living somewhat normal lives. The Flare is a slow, degenerative disease. Without this aspect of the disease made clear, it will be difficult to recreate some of the other most critical scenes of the series. Teresa and Aris were the masterminds of an intricate betrayal complex. Although the movie shows Teresa simply calling W.C.K.D to alert them of the Right Arm’s location, it wasn’t actually that simple. In the book, Teresa and Aris (who disappears by the end of the movie) were in cahoots with W.C.K.D. all along, and they led a different group of survivors (not in the movie) to take Thomas prisoner.

Although the movie shows Teresa simply calling W.C.K.D to alert them of the Right Arm’s location, it wasn’t actually that simple. In the book, Teresa and Aris (who disappears by the end of the movie) were in cahoots with W.C.K.D. all along, and they led a different group of survivors (not in the movie) to take Thomas prisoner. The film adaptation’s final battle scene nor the vow to destroy W.C.K.D. never happened – That final battle scene with the fancy explosions and all the captured? Yup, never happened. And at the end, Thomas’ heroic speech to save the world from W.C.K.D.? That never happened and I am not even sure it correctly sets up the plotline for the following books.

Overall, I have no clue where the film’s creators are going with the story. Because it’s definitely no longer what I loved about The Maze Runner book series. Sure, the book series had a lot of action, but it was human and was about people’s relationships. The Scorch Trials movie got so muddled in explosions and zombies that it lost everything that was so emotional and real about it. It feels like the creators read the first part of the book, and were like “Oh yeah, we’ve read enough, we know what’s going to happen” when they obviously didn’t. I am sorely disappointed, but still interested to see how they can translate a disfigured plotline such as this into the next film, The Death Cure.

Rotten Tomatoes: 49%

Cinema Score: B+

Criticas de la Zia: 4/10