As a reader of all three books in this series, I must start with, the movie was different from the book.
As all movies must adapt to different forms of story telling, some events in The Scorch Trials were crucial, and they were addressed with completely different scenes.
Now, with that out of the way, the actors did a phenomenal job with their roles as Thomas, Newt, Teresa, Minho, Jorge, Aris and Brenda.
The story was very different in terms of how they described the Flare and how little information they revealed about the Cranks and The Right Arm.
As a film, The Scorch Trials transitioned from action scene to action scene and it raised the stakes very quickly for the audience. But many of the scenes were not necessary in terms of the overall series and what little they revealed to the audience.
In the book, Thomas and company are split up among the groups A and B with a new character named Aris leading group B. The Scorch is another trial for the kids to go through, proving their worth to WICKED for the hope of humanity.
In the film, the kids escape through the Scorch from WICKED's clutches, but they still endure the same events to an extent that the trial demanded of them in the book.
The film's goal seems to have been leaving the audience in suspense and waiting for Thomas to call the shots as the story moved along. The film didn't explain The Flare virus at all. It was shown, but not in a way that the audience could grasp the way it worked. Also, Aris's character was completely different in the film than the book. His role in Thomas's trial was lessened and most of the plot development for that part of the story fell to Teresa.
With one more film left in the series, I wonder how they will explain the virus, and if they will follow through with the book's story in terms of the overall actions that Thomas, Newt, Minho and Teresa will perform.
The film ended on a very different cliffhanger, completely unexpected by both the book's fans and the movie goers.
This approach to the story may still work, but they will need to explain the Flare virus in more detail in the last film, so the audience can understand the motivation, not morals behind WICKED and why Thomas is so important.
As a film, on its own, out of the book series, I would rate this movie four out of five tattoos.
It was entertaining and kept the audience on its toes.
As an accurate representation of the book I would give it three of of five tattoos because some crucial information was glossed over, and characters' roles were changed and cut during important events in the story.
I'm hoping that the Death Cure will describe the Flare and why WICKED has been torturing these kids to find a cure. Thomas's role should also be explained, and the story's events will have to be addressed.
