MAZE RUNNER: THE DEATH CURE

Malaysia Release Date: 25 Jan 2018

Genre: Science Fiction/Adventure 

Running Length: 2:22

Cast: Dylan O'Brien, Kaya Scodelario, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Ki Hong Lee, Rosa Salazar, Will Poulter, Aidan Gillen, Giancarlo Esposito, Barry Pepper, Patricia Clarkson, Walton Goggins

Director: Wes Ball

Screenplay: T.S. Nowlin, based on the novel by James Dashner 

MAZE RUNNER: THE DEATH CURE is a good send-off to conclude the Maze Runner trilogy. To be fair, the bar wasn't set very high with the first and second one, so I was pleasantly surprise at the grand-ness of this third and final installment. 

What I liked about this film is its action set pieces. At get-go, it opens with a spectacular train rescue mission (felt like it was taken out from a scene in the later Fast and Furious movies) and the action doesn't stop there. It keeps piling up right to its fiery ending. In terms of performances, only one stood out - Dylan O'Brien. Together with the recent American Assassin, O'Brien is shaping up to be a potential action star. There's still room for improvement but I must say, he gives his all into every scene.  

What I didn't like? Way too much action scenes and unnecessary plots. This film is bloated. Clocking in at 2:22, it felt like a 4 hour movie. Some action scenes are so out there you just can't help but to chuckle a little. Although the filmmakers tried to balance it out with some Korean-drama-type emotional scenes, it just didn't really work for me. And what irritated me were the tropes (it came in spades) especially towards the end of the movie. There were so many moments I went, "Wait for it...this and that will happen" and BAM, it did! 

All in all, I must say the Maze Runner series is a much more consistent outing compared to the Hunger Games franchise. While the latter started off with a bang but spluttered to a halt by the time it came to its conclusion, the former kept chugging along.

RATING: 7/10

AMERICAN ASSASSIN (2017)

Genre: Action / Thriller
Running Length: 1:52
Cast: Dylan O’Brien, Michael Keaton, Taylor Kitsch, Sanaa Lathan, Shiva Negar, Scott Adkins
Director: Michael Cuesta
Screenplay: Stephen Schiff and Michael Finch and Edward Zwick & Marshall Herskovitz, based on the novel by Vince Flynn.

I'm going to try something different in this review. There will be minor spoilers. So, if you're intending to watch AMERICAN ASSASSIN please stop reading now. Come back after you've seen it.

Still here...ok here goes.

Firstly, let me start off with the plot.  A young good looking man (O'Brien) proposes to his beautiful girlfriend at a beach. Out of nowhere, a group of terrorist attacks everyone there and the girl is brutally gunned down. As a result, the guy grows a manly beard and trains himself to hunt and take down these cold blooded killers - all by himself. In the process, he is recruited by the CIA to help them stop a nuclear bomb threat.

To be fair, you can watch the above plot in the trailers. It was because of the trailers, especially the first one, I was captivated by what I saw. "Woah, the boy from the Maze Runner series looks macho here! And that John Carter dude plays a baddie? Michael Keaton??! Here take my money!"

But alas...this movie is so generic one can fall asleep during the film and when he wakes up, he can still follow what's happening on screen. If it wasn't for the big names, this would be a B-grade on-demand type of movie.

If the filmmakers could do this again, I have 3 suggestions for them to make American Assassin a much better watch.

1) Cast an unexpected actor as the lead
Credit should be given to O'Brien for giving his all for this film. But he is just not believable here. As O'Brien has done action flicks before, the filmmakers should have cast an unexpected actor in this movie. Think Bruce Willis in Die Hard. Before he became an action hero, he was this almost non-confrontational cool dude with a smirk in the romantic comedy TV series Moonlighting. Nobody would have thought he was capable of playing such an action driven role but he nailed it. (Nicholas Cage in The Rock and Con Air achieved a similar buzz too. Before these movies, he was a dramatic actor).

2) Cast an unexpected actor as the main villain 
Similar argument as (1). No doubt, Kitsch was an unexpected choice but he just wasn't menacing enough. He came across as a boy with daddy issues. Totally unforgettable. Anybody with decent acting chops could have played that role. Using Die Hard as an example again, think about the casting of Alan Rickman as Hans Gruber. Now, that's a real baddie. Before his breakout role, he played small dramatic roles on British TV.

3) Don't chicken out on the ending
I thought the filmmakers will be bold enough to do something daring at the end - to give it a "too little too late" finale causing hundreds of casualties. That could have redeemed the movie. But they played it safe.

If anything, American Assassin kills time.

RATING: 5.5/10 

DEEPWATER HORIZON (2016)

Genre: Drama / Adventure
Running Length: 1:47
Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Kurt Russell, Gina Rodriguez, Dylan O’Brien, John Malkovich, Kate Hudson
Director: Peter Berg
Screenplay: Matthew Michael Carnahan and Matthew Sand, based on the article by David Rohde and Stephanie Saul

Rarely can I use "engaging" and "educational" to describe a movie but DEEPWATER HORIZON did exactly that for me. Probably due to my ignorance, I was aware of this true event but I didn't really know much about it. Dubbed as "the worst environmental disaster in American history", this movie reenacts the explosion on the BP Deep Horizon oil rig off the coast of New Orleans in April 2010.

As a result of that, 11 workers were killed and millions of barrels of crude oil were released into the Gulf of Mexico. The oil from the sea-floor gushed out and flowed for 87 days, until it was capped on July 15, 2010. I read a recent report that this deadly spill (even after more than 6 years) may not have fully "cleared up" yet and may have caused a permanent damage to the Gulf's marshes.

Although this movie is based on true events, the narrative is structured more like a disaster movie where the focus is more on the the heroism of ordinary people; very much like the recent Sully (which is still showing in the cinemas). The characters are all well established right at the start of the film.   

What I like about this movie is the build up to the destruction of the oil rig. Symbolism, choice of words, aptly used of sounds and score, and clever scenes such as the young daughter of our protagonist (played by Wahlberg) explaining the principal behind oil drilling using a can of soda - gives the movie a foreboding atmosphere. So much so when the actual explosion took place, I literally said out loud, "Oh Shit!".

If there is a downside to this movie, it is the events that followed after the explosion. There is surprisingly little suspense as characters try to escape from all the fire and carnage. And the demonization of BP in the form of John Malkovich is a little overdone. But thankfully, Malkovich's character is nicely balanced out by Russell's character as the noble captain while the rest of the cast are equally solid.

I urge you not to walk out from the cinema as soon as the movie ends because there is a dignified and fitting tribute to the 11 workers.

Rating: 8/10

MAZE RUNNER: THE SCORCH TRIALS (2015)

Genre: Science Fiction/Adventure
Running Length: 2:08
Cast:  Dylan O'Brien, Kaya Scodelario, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Ki Hong Lee, Jacob Lofland, Rosa Salazar, Aidan Gillen, Giancarlo Esposito, Barry Pepper, Lili Taylor, Patricia Clarkson
Director: Wes Ball
Screenplay: T.S. Nowlin, based on the novel by James Dashner 

"Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds." John 12:24 

MAZE RUNNER: THE SCORCH TRIALS touches on the age-old question of whether is it right to sacrifice a small group of people to save the larger population? Just like the rest of the post-apocalyptic YA novels adapted to the big screen, this sequel expands its universe beyond the "maze" in the first movie.

This movie starts where The Maze Runner ended with our protagonist (O'Brien) and his fellow survivors are being taken to a secured location with the promise of a ticket to the promised land. Of course, not all is what it seems. And our survivors are on the run again. Although not quite like the maze we saw in the first film, but the "playground" now has expanded to include crawling through air vents, running away from zombie-like creatures through tunnels and fallen buildings and surviving severe weather conditions. The filmmakers have definitely amped-up the action sequences and some scenes are near terrifying (think Resident Evil). 

Although there are some interesting characters added to the group in this second installment, it still doesn't fare very well in the acting department. Compared to The Hunger Games franchise, the performance here rivals the bad acting we see in soap operas.

To be fair, I like what they did thematically with where all these are going, and I was genuinely entertained. However just like snacking on junk food, I was tricked to feeling full - it was just not as satisfying as a healthy gourmet dinner.

Rating: 6.5/10

   

THE MAZE RUNNER (2014)

Genre: Adventure/Science Fiction

Running Length: 1:53

Cast: Dylan O'Brien, Aml Ameen, Ki Hong Lee, Blake Cooper, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Will Poulter, Kayla Scodelario

Director: Wes Ball

THE MAZE RUNNER is suspenseful, fast moving and will keep viewers guessing for a good 3/4 of the movie. Despite its engaging start, the final reveal is somewhat cliché. It's satisfying nevertheless but it doesn't sucker punch you in the gut. The performance of the actors are serviceable but our main star is unfortunately forgettable. The only standout is this Asian dude - not because of his acting chops but I was distracted by his neat hairstyle throughout the movie. I would imagine being stuck in the maze for 3 years, one would assume his hair would be caveman-like but noo...he looks like a YouTube celebrity. Somehow it doesn't gel (See what I just did there *smirk*). The soundtrack is from the school of Hans Zimmer which is actually not bad. In summary, The Maze Runner is entertaining and a cut above the other "dark dystopian future, one special teenager to save them all" films which are adapted from YA novels.

Rating: 7.5/10