The Maze Runner 3 - The Death Cure (2018)

Apparently this movie was supposed to come out early 2017 (I noted when I posted my last review), but it sure took a while longer!

Three years later and here we are again, out in the wild lands, distant from the maze but still just as entangled in the war against Wicked. Theresa is working for the enemy, but she might not be all bad. Other old characters make a return too, and it feels like they're really tying up loose ends towards the end. And this is the end. The final part. Right?

The movie starts with a rescue mission, back to the wild, and then to a city: the last remaining bastion of humans yet uninfected, though it's spreading and it seems like no matter what they try their walls may still fall. Here Wicked have their headquarters, and are working diligently on a cure. A cure for death.

After seeing Daybreakers I was almost expecting the test girl's head to explode during the first experiment, but they kept it simple. I'm reminded during the action sequences of just how simple everything is here - and that sometimes it's better that way. They go for firecrackers, smokescreens and shaky cam instead of big budget special effects, and scenes like the car swirling through the air, or the container, or the bus, or the fall... they all seem real, and really add to the chaos.

Doesn't matter if they filmed it all with a green screen - they still filmed it, and that I appreciate. There may be plenty of CGI as well but around the characters everything feels real. Props to the producers on managing that authenticity even in a world like this.

I'm not so fond of the Transformer sound effects though, or the constant stunning instead of killing. Even if is pretty considerate of them it somewhat tones down the threat levels.

It seems they reprised the train heist from Fast and Furious 5 a bit too... not that I'm complaining on that one, and the final war reminds all the more of The Hunger Games. They're out of their cage, and maze, but once they get back to the city... the similarities all come again.

It is great though. The sceneries are switched up once again, and go from futuristic city oasis to green land, from deserted desert to sandy island, and the characters... they jump around a bit. They go on and off. I like their energy, and how they capture the emotion, even though I sometimes wonder... are people really this intense? Really?!

Great action. Genuine effects/props. Strong characters. Fragile relations. Overall this was a great finale to a great franchise. The mystery's gone, but the death cure... even with the world overturned there's still hope.

 rated 4/5: fo shizzle