Day 77: Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015)

I usually do not like to watch films that are based off of teen novels, but I broke that rule with the Divergent series and The Maze Runner. The Maze Runner is one of those Teen series that after seeing the first film I was very impressed so for today’s film we checked out Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials. The Scorch Trials once again features our group featuring Thomas (Dylan O’Brien), Minho (Ki Hong Lee), Newt (Thomas Brodie-Sangster), Frypan (Dexter Darden), Winston (Alexander Flores), and Teresa (Kaya Scodelario), but this time around they are rescue and make it to a new facility after escaping the maze. The only problem is that Thomas discovers that there is something wrong with this new facility and he decides to escape and take his chances in the scorch all in search for a group called The Right Arm. The film also stars Jacob Lofland (Mud) as Aris, Rosa Salazar (Insurgent) as Brenda, Giancarlo Esposito (The Usual Suspects) as Jorge, Patricia Clarkson (Shutter Island) as Ava Paige, Aidan Gillen (The Dark Knight Rises) as Janson, Lili Taylor (The Conjuring) as Mary, Barry Pepper (Saving Private Ryan) as Vince, Katherine McNamara (New Year’s Eve) as Sonya, Nathalie Emmanuel (Furious 7) as Harriet, Alan Tudyk (Wreck-It Ralph) as Blondie, and the film was directed by Wes Ball (The Maze Runner).

One of my issues with the film and it isn’t that big of an issue, but it jumps between genres throughout the whole film. We get a little sci-fi with some alien looking creatures and humans being harvested for their blood before they start to get attacked by zombies. Then its all set in a post apocalyptic world like in Mad Max or The Day After Tomorrow. Even though it may seem like I am complaining about those things, the set design was actually one of my favorite things about the film. The mall buried in sand or the decimated city that they have to navigate through is pretty cool. The film itself has it’s moments of brilliance, but sometimes it has it’s moments of dullness. There are times where the film just feels like it’s dragging and you are wondering when it’s all going to end. The action when it happens can be pretty cool as well and there is plenty of it in this film, but there are some elements of the film that are just predictable. There is one moment in the film that when it happened, I thought to myself that I should have seen it coming. Was the second entry in the series better than the first? To honestly answer that question, I would have to say that I felt the first one was better than this one. They added more as far as visuals are concerned, but there was just too many moments that dragged in my opinion. They are making the next film in the series, so stay tuned for that when it happens. I know I’ll be there to watch it. I am going to give Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials an B+ for a final grade.

Day 36: Pride And Prejudice And Zombies (2016)

It’s been a little while since I went to the movie theaters to see a film and so I decided to check out one of the new films. A lot of people remember the Jane Austin book Pride And Prejudice which takes place in 19TH century England. In 2009, Seth Grahame-Smith wrote the parody book Pride And Prejudice And Zombies which combines the elements of the original book with Zombie fiction. When I found out they turned it into a movie, I had to see it and here is my review. The story follows Mr. and Mrs. Bennett (Charles Dance and Sally Phillips) and their five unmarried daughters who love in 19TH century England which is plagued by Zombies. When a new eligible bachelor named Mr. Bingley (Douglas Booth) and Mr. Darcy (Sam Riley) move into town, things that may lead to a zombie revolution begin to unravel as soon as Bingley falls in love with Jane (Bella Heathcote). Meanwhile, Darcy struggles with the eldest daughter Elizabeth (Lily James) who is tough and struggles with the idea of marriage. The film also stars Jack Huston (Boardwalk Empire) as George Wickham, Suki Waterhouse (Insurgent) as Kitty Bennett, Lena Headey (Game Of Thrones) as Lady Catherine de Bourgh, Matt Smith (Doctor Who) as Parson Collins, and the film was directed by Burr Steers (17 Again).

The film overall wasn’t that bad of a film because it had the zombies, cool action scenes, but it felt more like a romance movie most of the time. It was the courting of Elizabeth which I understand was a big part of the original story, but I just felt like they could have done more with it. It’s basically like a 19TH Century Victorian aristocratic zombie movie with the fancy old English talk. Some of my favorite parts of the film had to be when my favorite Doctor Who Matt Smith comes on screen as the bumbling Parson Collins. He had some of the most hilarious scenes in the film as he was in my opinion the comedic relief that was needed. I probably should have read the book because while a friend of mine called a certain scene, it would’ve been nice to know some of the details that are eventually revealed in the film. I was pleased with the acting in the film to the point I wouldn’t mind seeing more with Sam Riley, Lily James, and Jack Huston. As I said before, the film wasn’t bad, but I probably should have read the book first to know what I was getting into when I chose to see this film. With that being said, I am going to give the film an B for a final grade. It’s in theaters as we speak so go out and see it for yourself.