We watched the first movie in the series and weren’t completely disappointed, so we decided to give the second one a try.
It continues where the first one left off and gives the audience deeper insight into the teens’ desire to survive and thrive and how far the WCKD corporation will go to get what they want. We get to meet some rebels in this one who are fighting the authorian power and trying to save the world/kids.
There were a lot of expected tropes in this film, including the heroes falling to the villains and needing to pick themselves up from the ashes to fight and be victorious. There was a betrayal, but neither my oldest nor I were surprised by who it was. I was kind of bummed about that. I wanted there to be shock and surprise.
The audience is able to see more of the destroyed world and get a better sense of how it devolved into chaos. The people who get infected with a virus are incredibly zombie-like, but they are like 28 Days Later zombies because they are fast and persistent. My spouse was surprised that it turned into a zombie film, but I wasn’t. I knew from the first film when it explained that people were infected and acted unpredictably and violently that there would be zombies.
As I watched the film, I couldn’t help but think of my own writing and how the undead are used in stories. I’ll probably do another blog post about my thoughts, but I’ll hint that my initial reaction was one of depression. More on that another time.
There were several questions left unanswered by these two movies, including: if the kids are supposed to be immune, how can they become infected by both the zombies and the Grievers? Even the characters ask this question, so I’m hoping at some point it gets answered.
At a little over 2 hours, this movie felt too long. There was so much running, which I get if you’re running for your life, but I wanted more insight into the world and the people living in it—and we were introduced to some new characters, but they seemed pretty flat and predictable. They didn’t get a lot of development, so it was hard to be attached to them. Thus, when one of them gets infected, it was like “Meh. That was expected.”
Again, my kids really enjoyed this film and there was action and fights to keep them entertained. I thought it was too long and dragged in places, but it wasn’t a complete waste of an evening. I don’t doubt that when the third one becomes available to rent, we’ll watch it so we can see how the story progresses. Apparently, there are four books in the series, so there’s probably at least one more movie in the works to finish the story.
Who else has seen this film? Thoughts?
There were a lot of expected tropes in this film, including the heroes falling to the villains and needing to pick themselves up from the ashes to fight and be victorious. There was a betrayal, but neither my oldest nor I were surprised by who it was. I was kind of bummed about that. I wanted there to be shock and surprise.
The audience is able to see more of the destroyed world and get a better sense of how it devolved into chaos. The people who get infected with a virus are incredibly zombie-like, but they are like 28 Days Later zombies because they are fast and persistent. My spouse was surprised that it turned into a zombie film, but I wasn’t. I knew from the first film when it explained that people were infected and acted unpredictably and violently that there would be zombies.
As I watched the film, I couldn’t help but think of my own writing and how the undead are used in stories. I’ll probably do another blog post about my thoughts, but I’ll hint that my initial reaction was one of depression. More on that another time.
There were several questions left unanswered by these two movies, including: if the kids are supposed to be immune, how can they become infected by both the zombies and the Grievers? Even the characters ask this question, so I’m hoping at some point it gets answered.
At a little over 2 hours, this movie felt too long. There was so much running, which I get if you’re running for your life, but I wanted more insight into the world and the people living in it—and we were introduced to some new characters, but they seemed pretty flat and predictable. They didn’t get a lot of development, so it was hard to be attached to them. Thus, when one of them gets infected, it was like “Meh. That was expected.”
Again, my kids really enjoyed this film and there was action and fights to keep them entertained. I thought it was too long and dragged in places, but it wasn’t a complete waste of an evening. I don’t doubt that when the third one becomes available to rent, we’ll watch it so we can see how the story progresses. Apparently, there are four books in the series, so there’s probably at least one more movie in the works to finish the story.
Who else has seen this film? Thoughts?
