The Teleporter

2016-02-19

Good evening once again peeps, welcome to my Friday night short story. This one’s more science fiction than anything else, with what is hopefully a humorous edge. Enjoy!

“Take a look at this.”
The room filled with a blinding flash of light. A second later it was gone and the room returned to its normal lighting level.
” What was that?” asked Eric, rubbing his eyes. He hadn’t been expecting a blinding flash of light and now he had been left with a green smudge imprinted on his vision.
“It’s a time travelling machine” said Rob excitedly, a child in the body of a thirty year old man. Rob was attired in full mad scientist garb, including the stereotypical white lab coat. The goggles placed carefully atop his head had left circular indents on his forehead, giving him the appearance of some weirdly enthusiastic alien creature. He didn’t have to wear any of this. He chose to.
Eric looked around the room. Every little detail was precisely as it had been before his eyes had been burned.
“We’re still in your bedroom mate” said Eric.
“Take a look outside” said Rob, starting to bob up and down on the balls of his feet.
Eric shrugged and walked over to the window. He waited a moment for his eyes to adjust to the light and focused on where his car had been parked no more than thirty minutes ago. Instead there was a space. A car sized space.

“Somebody’s nicked my car” said Eric, anger starting to build up slowly. He usually managed to get things under control before he erupted like Mount Vesuvius. The theft of his precious Vauxhall Astra was enough to send him over the edge.
“Relax, it’s still where you left it” said Rob, joining Eric at the window.
“But it isn’t though, is it?” said Eric, pointing and remonstrating with barely contained rage. Rob waved him down. Eric twitched at Rob’s carefree attitude. Hewasn’t taking this seriously enough. Eric felt the anger bubbling up faster and faster.
“Honestly, it’s exactly where you left it. It’s us that have moved, not your car.”
“What do you mean?” Rob had always been a little bit odd, a little bit weird even, but this was starting to look like he had finally gone off the deep end.
“Like I told you, I invented a time machine. It moves us from one place to another.”
“So what happened to my car?”
Rob rolled his eyes. “As I keep telling you, it’s exactly where you left it. We’ve moved in time but your car is still parked outside at the time we left.”
“What time did we leave?”
Rob checked his watch. “11.31am.”
“Okay, and what time is it now?”
“11.33.”
This wasn’t looking good.
“So we haven’t travelled anywhere then.” It was a statement.
“Now that you mention it, no. Apparently not.”
“So…” Eric had to connect the dots for his mad scientist of a friend. “We haven’t gone anywhere, but my car has.”
Rob processed this, his face contorting as if he was completing a difficult mental arithmetic question. Eventually he just nodded in response. Eric could feel the anger building up again.
“Mate, that’s not time travel, that’s teleportation.”
Rob paused for a second. Just a second.
“Is it?”
Eric nodded. Rob found it difficult to process this information. It was if his entire life had been a lie.
“So what’s this then?” He pointed at his invention.
“I just said. It’s a teleporter.”
“Right…”
Silence descended. Eric gave Rob a couple of minutes, trying to quell his own developing rage. He soon decided the atmosphere was getting oppressive and broke the silence.
“That leads me back to my question. Where’s my car gone?”
Rob looked out the window, smiled a half smile, and shrugged noncommittally.
This was going to end very badly. For Rob.

Dark Angel (1990) review

Simon Prior

Lundgren. Aliens. A small FBI man. Drugs.

In what must have had the action film screenwriters guild in an apoplectic rage (if said guild existed), Dolph Lundgren’s maverick cop in Dark Angel isn’t called John. He’s not far off though – his name is Jack Caine. He is precisely what you would expect, a maverick cop who doesn’t play very well with others and has a blatant disregard for the rules.

After we see the perils of changing a CD in your car stereo in the opening sequence, we’re introduced to themes including revenge, the battle against drugs (both on Earth and beyond), weird and wonderful alien weapons, and a grim backdrop that suits the equally grim subject matter. Luckily this is balanced by some genuinely funny moments throughout.

It’s interesting because it’s almost like two different films meshed together, for the first 45 minutes at least. After that the sci-fi alien hunt plot meets up with the buddy cop police procedural with enjoyably silly results. There are two aliens running around the streets, one saying “I come in peace” (an alternate title for the film, appropriately enough), pumping people full of heroin before taking samples from his victims and gratuitously bumping them off. The remaining alien is on the other’s trail, trying to stop the blonde bad guy from taking the endorphins extracted from the human victims back to their home planet. Needless to say, he has a close encounter with Dolph Lundgren. Soon the drug lord parallels between the aliens and the domestic issues Caine has with local drug lords The White Boys become clear. If drugs are bad (mmkay), then having intergalactic drug dealers rocking up on Earth is clearly a bad thing.

Such amazing white eyes. And hair. and teeth.

Buddying up with Lundgren’s Caine is Brian Benben as Special Agent Smith. They couldn’t have chosen a more diminutive partner for Lundgren without resorting to borderline offensive “little person” casting. The height difference between the two is immense. This is further emphasised by their initial disagreement over procedure, your typical buddy cop yin/yang situation.

It will never be claimed that Lundgren is a great actor, although as the years have gone by he has demonstrated that he can put out a solid performance if given the right material. Such is the case with Dark Angel. True, he doesn’t have much to do in terms of range, but his knowing raised eyebrows and glances of mild concern are comedy gold. It would be a concern if he ever showed up in a serious drama or something along those lines, but give him roles like Jack Caine and he’s well in his element.

To approach Dark Angel as anything other than a cheesy action movie is the wrong way to do it. You’ll get nothing out of it if you go in expecting Shakespeare. But if you can get along with films that are inherently silly with their fair share of violent moments, then you’re already halfway there. Plus, scientists should never drink coffee or test products on themselves. It makes them kinda jumpy.

Walking Tall (1973) review

Simon Prior

"Do you like my big stick?" — “Do you like my big stick?”

Unlike the 2004 remake starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, the original Walking Tall is played almost entirely seriously – which no doubt has a lot to do with the fact the real life Buford Pusser was still knocking around at the time and had some involvement in the film. It is also indicative of the era in which it was made, an era in which big budget disaster movies and darker reality-based cinema was on the increase. Whereas the remake stemmed from the post-9/11 world and went directly for broad entertainment status, the same cannot be said for the film from which it draws influence

Buford Pusser returns to his hometown after spending years on the road performing as a wrestler. This aren’t quite as he remembers them, however, as the town is now being run by a great big bunch of unpleasant criminals who have taken control of much of the local economy and left its residents in fear. Buford, being the man that he is, won’t take this lying down and decides to fight back despite the insurmountable odds that stand against him and the very real likelihood that his crusade will get him killed and, quite possibly, the rest of his family. But never fear, because he is joined by Bruce Glover as his reliable deputy – everyone will know him better as Mr Wint in Diamonds and Forever and, perhaps less so, the father of Crispin Glover.

It’s a hard hitting affair, or at least it would have been at the time. Nowadays it sits somewhere between gritty realism and laughable moments of over-exaggerated gesticulation. Blood is over-saturated and looks poor by today’s standards, but that doesn’t get in the way of the violence which is frequent and graphic. The only problem is that it more often than not ruined by the style of the era – over-emphasising everything to the point where it’s one notch away from Airplane-style parody.

At the centre of all this however is Joe Don Baker, latterly known for his appearances in the Pierce Brosnan Bond films as Wade, and a brief stint before that as the villain in the Timothy Dalton Bond film The Living Daylights. Through thick and thin, despite multiple attempts on his life, he continues on his quest for justice. He attempts to clean up his home town by using the letter of the law to his advantage. Baker displays a belligerent expression throughout, so he wasn’t exactly stretched in his performance.

So, a worthy endeavour if considered in its original context, although it may lack appeal to more modern audiences. Add to this the limited distinction of the villains and their personalities – and the fact there are a few too many of them – there is little to help build support for Buford’s quest to clean up the town from the audience’s perspective, nor does the occasional feeling that time is passing rather slowly – a common problem for films made at this point in time, just take a look at The Godfather. Still, it’s a solid way of spending a couple of hours, if nothing else for watching Joe Don Baker dramatically rip his own shirt off, Hulk Hogan style, in a tense court scene.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfEWDBpgVrg

Attack Force (2006) review

Simon Prior

The shot to the head came as quite the surprise.

Just when you thought it was safe to watch another Steven Seagal movie…

Right, so this is yet another direct to DVD action flick featuring Steven Seagal. One of the many in his vast pantheon of films, only two of which I believe are worth watching, and only one of them is a true Seagal starring feature. For the record, those films are Under Siege and Executive Decision. Almost everything else he’s ever made is filler and only worth your time if you have a high threshold for cinematic pain. Needless to say, going into Attack Force thinking along these lines almost doomed it from the off. And with good reason too.

We don’t get off to a good start. A moving vehicle is shown in slow motion, not for any artistic reason but because they needed to make sure the character dialogue, in voiceover I might add, was able to fit over it. When it’s that obvious that footage has been tinkered to suit a minor point as this, you appreciate just how bumpy the ride is about to get.

It’s then that you realise that quite a number of Seagal’s lines have been dubbed, and dubbed by somebody else doing a terrible Steven Seagal impression. Why this decision was made I don’t know. Apparently it has something to do with the plot being changed between filming and release – there were aliens involved at one point until they decided on the party drug plot – but that doesn’t explain why some of the lines being dubbed are identical to what were being spoken on set, nor why it sounds like more than one person dubbed Seagal. He has about four different voices from start to finish. Somehow I doubt that Seagal is a master of accents.

The other explanation is that the original audio was unusable and Seagal refused to go into the studio and ADR his lines – not outside of the realms of reason. However you look at it, I’m certain that drinking games exist where you take a sip or a shot whenever there is an obviously dubbed line of dialogue, or a shot or scene that would make more sense in a different story. You’ll likely be smashed within thirty minutes.

Seagal. In a leather coat. Last Thursday.

The plot is, consequently, almost entirely forgettable. Seagal, with the character name of Marshall Lawson (a name that is deserving of a far better film than this) is on the trail of some bad guys selling that party drug I mentioned previously, called CTX.

Let’s just gloss over that the people who have apparently taken this CTX drug now have the ability to blink using their second eyelid, a clear holdover from the original alien-led narrative. For the sake of argument let’s say that this party drug gives them a second set of eyelids that… oh, who am I kidding? It’s ludicrous.

As if the weird amalgamation of stories wasn’t enough, it also takes an absolute age to get going, with a dearth of action sequences until the final third, and even then they are lacking in coordination and energy.

This won’t be a film I remember in any great detail. In fact, I barely finished watching it less than half an hour ago and the details are already beginning to fade. I suppose I should consider myself lucky.

Dragon Eyes (2012) review

Simon Prior

"I'm only here for one thing. Cash." — “I’m only here for one thing. Cash.”

Van Damme in “I just want the money!”

Van Damme gets prominent billing across Dragon Eyes, despite only being in three or four scenes. That’s almost everything you need to know, really. A by the numbers, direct to DVD action film where the “star” isn’t actually the star.

The focus instead is on Cung Le’s Hong, a man who takes it upon himself to clear out the drug dealers and bad guys who have taken control of a residential neighbourhood. Using the lessons taught to him by Van Damme whilst in prison, Hong takes the fight direct to the drug dealers. Except, he’s not all that good at doing so. Ironic, eh? I suppose the original thought was to portray him as one of these vulnerable heroes in the same capacity as the Daniel Craig-era James Bond films, where every punch, every broken bone, every physical assault has an effect on the chap we’re rooting for.

The plot itself is quite simple, harking back to the old kung fu martial arts films popularised by Bruce Lee and his contemporaries. Hong plays off two gangs of drug dealers against one another, only to come face to face with Mr V, corrupt chief of police and, unsurprisingly, somebody who isn’t keen to have another potential threat to his position and income causing all this trouble.

There’s more fun to be had with the villains, chief of whom is the well dressed Peter Weller as Mr V. He does his usual thing (in other words, exudes excellence) and is the best thing about Dragon Eyes by a significant margin. He might be best known for being the original (and best) Robocop, but he has a knack for playing some deeply unpleasant bad guys. Without him to keep things interesting, Dragon Eyes would dissolve into an almost entirely forgettable experience.

In a distant second place are the action sequences, which all feel like they have weight to them but offer little due to some less than impressive direction. It’s all incredibly by the book, lacking depth or any hint of passion for the art of a well-structured physical fight. It’s a far cry from the martial arts hits of old. They might have been simple in terms of narrative but they delivered where it counted – the fights.

And somewhere far down the list are both Van Damme and Cung Le, neither of whom contribute much in the grand scheme of things. Van Damme in particular comes across as a more serious (and non-mullet wearing) version of his Coors Light advert persona in the five to ten minutes of screen time he graces us with. He’s a stoic presence, that much can be said. He’s a darn sight better than Cung Le, however. He’s so stiff he’s almost a plank of wood which has been given an acting job.

Despite all of this, the final showdown (because it’s inevitable, isn’t it?) is rather good, more than making up for the earlier missteps. If the script and, indeed the final production, had managed to maintain this level of pace throughout, I’d have had far less to complain about. That’s the way the Cung Le cookie crumbles, I guess.

Disconnect From The Internet, Focus On Your Writing

Simon Prior

2016-02-14

The Internet, as great as it is, can often be detrimental to your writing. In this day and age it’s all too easy to be distracted by websites, social media and a never ending stream of notifications popping up on our computers, tablets and smartphones. It’s a noisy place to be, and it makes the creative process much harder to get through if we’re being bombarded by things left, right and centre.

With writing in particular there is a very good chance that, once you sit down or during a brief lull in your writing, you’ll feel the urge to click on that social media icon, pay a visit to your favourite news site or break open one of the hundreds of different distractions that will stop you from getting the job done. Emails too – turn off all of it. Anything and everything that could be a distraction, get away from it and lock yourself away until you’ve finished. In some cases, this also means getting away from the family for a little while. They will understand. And they don’t, then they’re clearly not right for you.

So here’s my advice: when you are sitting down to write, turn off your wifi, unplug your network cable, and get away from the connected world in which we live. Just switch it off.

Don’t worry, it will still be there when you’re done. Well, assuming there isn’t a global apocalypse or something while you’re off the grid. But if that were the case you’d probably have a bit more to worry about than whether or not your friend or celebrity crush has posted a new photograph on Instagram.

Get away from the world, break away from the distractions and do what you planned to do at the beginning. Write.

Now, I’m not saying you shouldn’t do any research. Far from it. Just don’t do it when you’re settling in to commit words to the page or screen. I’m not a fan of doing research as I write. Instead, I do all of that before I start drafting. Once that initial stage is complete and I have my script or novel outline in front of me, I turn off notifications, move away politely from the social media landscape, and write.

I know this is might prove difficult, so how about you break away from the “constantly on” habit in smaller chunks? Try a timer like the Pomodoro Technique and write without distraction for 20 or 30 minute chunks. Then, when the timer goes off, take 10 minutes to go through your social media stuff, news updates, emails etc. Then do another 20-30 minutes writing against the clock. You’ll be amazed at how much you can do.

After a few weeks of writing like this you’l have developed a new habit, and slowly you should be able to break away from the apparent importance of social media. Speaking from my own experience, apart from engaging with your fans or other likeminded souls, you can survive without checking your social media accounts every few hours. Try using that time more effectively. Cut yourself away from the web and use the time for writing. If you’re serious about doing it, then you’ll do it. The extra minutes or hours spent working on your masterpiece will be far more productive than scrolling through yet another Facebook feed.

The message is simple. Disconnect and start writing. Get those words down. Finish that project. I believe in you.

Descendents (2008) review

Simon Prior

Possibly as interesting as it gets in Descendents. A scene where there is nothing happening.

Zombie Apocalypse: The Dull Edition

The truth of the matter is that Descendents just isn’t very good. Sure, it meets my requirements for logical zombies (in that the rules are established and are maintained) and the attacks on the living are occasionally good. The zombies look half decent and the post-apocalyptic setting are likewise acceptable. But there are two significant areas in which Descendents falls horribly flat.

First, the non-zombie effects don’t seem to have any consistency. The sky occasionally has an orangey–red filter applied to it, although not always consistently. In one close up shot in particular, half of the sky is orange and the other half is blue. Unless this was a deliberate move on the director’s part to imbue some subtext to the scene, it smacks of lazy effects editing. It just doesn’t work anywhere near as well as hoped. At least with the likes of Chrysalis there was consistency to the world, the effects and the undead. So it goes, I guess.

Second, the story makes absolutely no sense, doing nothing with the concept, the characters and resolutely fails to entertain the audience. Not something you would hope to get from a zombie film. Even if the story is terrible, the zombie attacks usually makes up for any shortcomings in that area. Not so in this case.

This is made all the worse by the film’s final moments, which form a twist too far after all of the zombie carnage that has preceded it. Rather than the almost gritty post-apocalyptic setting it had originally set up, it degrades into a subpar fantasy story for about fifteen seconds before, mercifully, the credits roll and you can make your escape. Well, unless you sit through the almost pointless newsreel footage that takes up a good few minutes of the credits and takes time to explain the very beginning of the viral outbreak. Yes, because after seeing that ending we need reminding of exactly where we started and where it went so horribly wrong. And by “it”, I mean the screenplay for this film.

Finally, the lead child actor, Camille Lynch, is frankly terrible. More often than not she barely seems conscious of the fact she’s supposed to be acting in a film. Instead, she spends most of her time staring blankly into the distance and demonstrating the emotional range of a cabbage.

By the time the film reached its end I didn’t care at all that Camille (the character has the same name as the actor) was immune to the virus and that the zombies won’t attack her. To be honest I kind of wished they would, if nothing else than to point the focus at another character who I might care a little more about. Her dull voiceover does little to support her role in these events – it’s like the original cut of Blade Runner all over again.

If you ever wondered how to make a zombie apocalypse dull and boring, then look no further than Descendents. You never know, if zombies did exist and this was the world that followed, you might stand half a chance of surviving.

Short Story: Isolation

Simon Prior

2016-02-12

Another Friday, another short story. I’ll admit that this one was thrown together rather quickly, so I might revisit this one a bit further down the line. But for now, hope you enjoy!

The deck in the corridor creaked. Had it always done that by itself? Until now it had only done so whenever he had walked through there. Did that mean somebody was out there, waiting for him? Or something?

His rational mind said that this was impossible. After all, he had been alone on this station for over a year now, having neither sight nor sound of any other living being for all that time. Despite there being signs of a past civilisation on the planet below, humanity had yet to encounter a sentient alien life form in the many centuries of space exploration that preceded Private Ashley Wilson’s arrival on orbital station ZX-979.

“Private, you’ll be undertaking a very important role for us” the stern faced General had told him. “You will be the first line of defence against our enemies. While you will be compensated financially, you will be completely alone for the duration of your time aboard. What do you say?”

Looking back, he wondered if he would have accepted their offer – and very generous pay packet – if he had known then exactly what he was getting himself in for. With that said, they were paying him a lot of money for this. Enough to support his family for at least two years, possibly more if they could stretch it out.

At first he had enjoyed the solitude, the days blurring into one as he completed his daily tasks, then settling down to catch up on some holo-vids and reading. He would follow almost the same pattern every day, varying things up a little to keep himself entertained, before retiring to bed, sleeping and beginning the routine all over again the following morning.

Now, after many months alone, his mind had started playing tricks on him. Or at least, that’s what he told himself. He knew he was getting worse, the nightmares had increased in number lately and it was rare if he could go a full night without waking up in a state of panic. The first time he had heard the noises he had inspected the entire station top to bottom, finding nothing. He had repeated this again three of four times afterwards, each time the same result. He was completely alone here.

So why did the sounds and noises keep happening? Something didn’t add up. The good news was that he was due to be relieved within the next 6 months. He had broken into the home stretch of his tour of duty, and now despite his initial relaxation and acceptance he was counting down the days until he could go home.

There it was again. That sound. The same corridor.

Should he go investigate? No, it was probably nothing. A station this old was bound to have a few unique quirks. Or maybe it was aliens after all? Maybe one had made its way up here from the surface, or transported over from a hidden vessel somewhere out there in space, and was toying with him. No, that sounded preposterous the more he thought about it.

If it wasn’t aliens, could it be one of the experiments they had asked him to watch over? There were some potentially terrifying things going on in there, enough to make Wilson stay as far away from that section of the station unless it was absolutely necessary for him to go. Still, the noises were unsettling him. He set off towards the labs at a brisk pace. If there was something stalking the corridors then it would catch him sooner rather than later. There was no place to hide. Better to be out in the open than tucked away in

A clatter up ahead, like something had fallen off the wall or a shelf. He’d definitely heard that. There was nothing at that end of ZX-979 except for storage space.

Without even considering going to see what it was, he turned immediately left and direct towards the lab. He was stood outside in less than a minute, the white light from inside blazing out into the corridor and mixing with the yellow light of the corridor.

He pushed closer to the glass and looked inside. Everything was in order. So, he could tick off the lab as the source of his angst. Well, one of the sources at least. That just left a hundred other possible reasons for the noises he had been hearing.

It was then that inspiration struck. He would tick off the possible causes, one by one, until he was certain that he was imagining it all. With renewed vigour, more than he’d experienced in many months, he set about inspecting the station again from top to bottom. If there was something or someone on board, he would find them this time.
“What’s he doing now?”
The technician turned to speak with the General. The General didn’t look at the technician directly. He was more interested in the live surveillance footage that the technician was monitoring. On it, Wilson could be seen checking through the storage containers.
“He’s responding to all of the stimuli we’ve given him, sir” replied the technician. “He thinks there’s something in there with him.”
“Good.” The General thought for a moment.
“Dial it up to Stage Five, let’s see what he does. Prepare a report and have it on my desk by the morning. I need to brief the Prime Minister on our progress. This project is exceeding all of our expectations.”
“Yes sir.” With a brief nod the General was gone.The technician resumed his observation of the surveillance feed, watching Private Wilson’s every move. The technician looked across at the simulator box which held Wilson and the entire contents of ZX-979.

Poor guy. He had absolutely no idea.

Smokin’ Aces (2006) review

Simon Prior

"This isn't what it looks like... or is it?" — “This isn’t what it looks like… or is it?”

If my long association with film has taught me anything, it’s that if you swindle and snitch on the Mob, they will come after you all guns blazing. And such is the case when Aces Israel (Jeremy Piven) goes a step too far and becomes an informant for the FBI. Holed up in protective custody he is then targeted by a large number of contract assassins and other ne’er do wells who are intent on permanently taking him out of the equation. Meanwhile cops Richard Messner (Ryan Reynolds) and Donald Carruthers (Ray Liotta) are trying to keep Israel alive throughout all the ensuing madness.

I would argue that the script’s approach isn’t suitable for telling this story. It jumps around as if it’s an Ocean’s Eleven style caper, when it is demonstrably nothing of the sort. Instead it’s a mostly vacuous piece of action cinema, one that thinks it’s making a Big Point about something or other but in actual fact is trying to be much cleverer than the reality of the situation.

What it does have is a ridiculously long cast list of established or soon to be established star names. Reynolds, Liotta, Ben Affleck, Andy Garcia and Jeremy Piven head up an equally extensive supporting lineup. The likes of Joel Edgerton, Chris Pine, Common, Nestor Carbonell, Matthew Fox (supporting an impressive moustache and head of hair), Kevin Durand, Jason Bateman, Taraji P Henson and Alicia Keys all contribute a little something to the increasingly hectic plot and character list.

The various twists and turns are interesting in and of themselves, but they amount to nothing of consequence. There are plenty of solid individual scenes throughout, some decent direction and action combine to make for the occasionally thrilling set piece.

HIs application for the Hitler Youth was turned down on two points. First, he'd got the salute wrong. Second, he wasn't a youth. — HIs application for the Hitler Youth was turned down on two points. First, he’d got the salute wrong. Second, he wasn’t a youth.

But then these moments are counterbalanced by some downright silly moments that almost spoil the fun. When a sniper starts shooting the hotel from a great distance, the cops all start shooting their own guns at where they perceive the sniper to be. The problem is, their guns have a far shorter range than the sniper rifle, and in the end it’s little more than lots of men shooting angrily out of a window at a target they’re never going to hit.

Then there are the Tremor brothers, three completely insane and off the wall neo-Nazi killers who are possibly the highlight of the film. They don’t play by anybody’s rules and have a very distinct counterculture style to how they work.

The best approach to take is that this is a whimsical interpretation on the action genre, one where you actively switch off your brain in order to enjoy it for the sake of pure entertainment. It shares some DNA with Commando in that respect, although that film has a far superior hold on its silliness than Smokin’ Aces.

Of course, the main difference between the two is that Smokin’ Aces has a terribly convoluted narrative that could potentially take its audience completely out of events as they try to figure out who is who. Not a glowing recommendation by any means, but if you’re stuck for something to watch and you’re craving a sort-of action thriller vibe, then this will do the trick.

Score: 3/5

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohhxbsp8Mss]

The Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015) review

Simon Prior

2016-02-10

A rare moment where Thomas isn't running from or to something. — A rare moment where Thomas isn’t running from or to something.

The young adult (YA) movie adaptation landscape is littered with the corpses of the franchises that didn’t make it beyond the first hurdle. The Maze Runner was a rare instance of a story that worked and managed to find an audience. Having made a bucketload of money a sequel was promptly greenlit. And so here we are, with an adaptation of the second book in James Dashner’s series, The Scorch Trials.

You can break the plot down to this very simple idea: our hero from the first film, Thomas (Dylan O’Brien), and his fellow survivors who escaped The Glade, spend nearly 2 hours running away from everything that is chasing after them or trying to kill them.

And the story, such as it is, never really lets up as we sprint breathlessly from one set piece to another. They’re always moving away from WCKD and into zombie-infested shopping malls. The zombie-like Cranks provide effective scares despite the film’s 12A rating. Meanwhile electrical storms, a number of unfriendly human communities, WCKD (obviously) in the form of Patricia Clarkson’s scientist Ava, a shifty appearance from Aiden Gillen (Littlefinger in Game of Thrones), and Gus from Breaking Bad (Giancarlo Esposito) throw difficulties into the mix. There’s world building aplenty here, but it’s built into the narrative in such a way that it doesn’t feel like blatant exposition. Exploring the wider world outside of The Glade and “The Scorch”, the world is a desert wasteland caused by solar flares. The old civilisation has been consumed by sand and since fallen into disrepair.

Having read interviews from Kaya Scodelario after the release of The Maze Runner, she stated that she signed up for the series because of the direction her character would take in the sequel(s). This was a reaction to how relatively little she had to say or do in that film compared to her male co-stars. And yet in The Scorch Trials, despite her character making a seemingly shocking decision (I didn’t find it all that shocking), she still has little to contribute to the story.

It’s actually newcomer Brenda (Rosa Salazar) who has a far better story arc and given a bigger opportunity to make her mark on the story. Hopefully it will be the third and final film based on book 3, The Death Cure, that Teresa will get her moment in the spotlight. Even so, having to wait until film 3 for something worthwhile to contribute is perhaps a bit too much. We shall see when that film is released in February 2017.

The Scorch Trials is very much the middle part of a trilogy, expanding on the world of the first film but ending in such a way that resolution won’t present itself until the third film. The new characters are introduced well (it’s always a pleasure to see Barry Pepper and Alan Tudyk), but at the expense of the pre-existing characters who, while well represented, don’t contribute much beyond running around behind Thomas and asking questions. It’s also lacking a decent source of antagonism, which was superbly provided by Will Poulter in The Maze Runner. Otherwise, it’s a successful sequel and proof that there are legs in YA adaptations provided the source material is reasonably strong. Plus the production itself must be given sufficient space to breathe as a distinct and separate interpretation of the source material.

Score: 3/5

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