MAZE RUNNER: THE SCORCH TRIALS (SPOILER-FREE) REVIEW

What Is It: The Scorch Trials is the exciting sequel to last year's surprise hit The Maze Runner.  The story follows the Gladers who escaped from The Maze: Thomas, Newt, Minho, Winston, Frypan, and Teresa as they are taken to what they think is a safe house where they meet other kids who were also a part of different Mazes including one named Aris.  He explains to the Gladers that every night Mr. Janson (Game of Thrones' Aiden Gillen) comes into their dining hall and calls out a group of kids names.  Those kids are taken to their "new lives", but no one really knows what that means until one night when Thomas (Teen Wolf's Dylan O'Brien) and Aris (Jacob Lofland) break their way into a lab where they are harvesting something from the children that they have taken, including Teresa (Kaya Scodelario).  When Thomas tells the other Gladers what they saw, the boys don't believe him at first, but Newt (Game of Thrones' Thomas Brodie-Sangster) and Minho (The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt's Ki Hong Lee) stand behind their friend and together, they find a way out of the compound and into the treacherous Scorch where they must find their way to the mountains while battling Cranks, sand storms, and other humans that stand in their way.

My experience: I saw this movie last night at one of the first showings in my local movie theatre.  After having seen the first movie, I was excited to see the second as well.  This movie was very different from the first with a lot more action, more characters, and Cranks popping out at you in every which way.  While it was slightly scary for me, who is a total chicken, it was a great movie and all the young actors were bringing their A-game against the successful adult actors: Aiden Gillen, Giancarlo Esposito (Once Upon A Time, Revolution), Patricia Clarkson (The Green Mile, Easy A), and Alan Tudyk (Serenity, Frozen).  Also, who doesn't love some hero!Dylan O'Brien?

Why You Should See It: If you haven't read the books, like me, you might be a little lost initially, but getting into the action of the movie and the minds of the characters makes this movie so enjoyable.  It's fast-paced and fun and you never feel like it's lagging.  It's definitely a movie that's not to be missed.  Dylan O'Brien, Ki Hong Lee, and Thomas Brodie-Sangster make a great team and you can really feel that their real-life friendship has translated to the bond the Gladers share with each other in the film.

The Future: This movie is just hitting theatres today, so make sure you check it out!  The dark movie theatre is the perfect way to beat the heat.  You can also look forward to its third installment, The Maze Runner: Death Cure hitting theatres on February 17, 2017.  The young stars of this film have so much ahead of them.  Starting in January, you can see Dylan O'Brien as fan-favorite goofy sidekick Stiles Stilinski on Season 5B of MTV's Teen Wolf .  In 2017, Kaya Scodelario will not only reprise her role as Teresa in Death Cure, but she will also take on the female lead in Pirates of the Caribbean 5: Dead Men Tell No Tales.  You can also catch Aiden Gillen as Petyr Baelish/Littlefinger on HBO's hit Game of Thrones. Perhaps most notably, Alan Tudyk will be a part of three upcoming films from Disney Studios in 2016: Zootopia, Moana, and Star Wars: Rogue One.