Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials a dark, adrenaline-fueled ride

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      Starring Dylan O’Brien and Patricia Clarkson. Rated PG. Now playing

      “I never thought I’d say this, but I miss the Glade,” a character announces, running from crisis to crisis on an apocalyptic, plague-ridden earth. Yes, that Glade, the one with the maze that has giant man-eating spider robots behind every corner.

      And he’s right. The sequel to last year’s surprise hit The Maze Runner is darker in every way than the original, so much so that it barely looks or feels like it came from the same franchise.

      The young Gladers have escaped the maze but a new set of horrors awaits and, well, they hit all over the map. For starters, we have zombies, a mix of 28 Days Later speed and Walking Dead gore; an opening segment in an industrial warehouse that rips a page right out of Coma; Mad Max–like chases through the desert; and a long, unnecessary Through the Looking Glass tangent into a world of new-romantic ravers who drink hallucinogens in the decrepit buildings of a former metropolis.

      The film’s structure, with its characters trying to reach different “levels” and far-flung environments, is less a storyline than a video game.

      When the movie opens, the Gladers are in a safe house, having “escaped” the clutches of the government-run WCKD, which had been experimenting on them. But soon it becomes clear the new “sanctuary” is not so safe, and they head out into the Scorch—the badlands of a destroyed earth—to try to join up with the rebel Right Hand and take on WCKD.

      It’s an adrenaline-pumped ride, the movie racing at a breathless pace, driven by surprisingly committed performances by Dylan O’Brien and his gang of teen outlaws (though a few scenes in their carefully faded khakis and leathers look like American Eagle ads). And the spectacle impresses, especially crumbling cityscapes where skyrises have tumbled like toppled Lego.

      Just don’t try to get your head around the political and scientific machinations here, or the fact the team can travel from, say, a parched desert to a verdant mountain in a matter of hours. Focus is lacking—and it may make you, like the Gladers, miss the comparatively taut Lord of the Flies intensity of the first installment.

      Follow Janet Smith on Twitter @janetsmitharts.

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