It’s not at all times a foul factor to be the poor man’s model of one thing. The poor man’s Picasso, for instance, could be a mind-blowing painter in his personal proper. When you’re the poor man’s model of the Divergent movie collection, although, you’re in bother, since Divergent itself is the poor man’s model of the Hunger Games.

Maze Runner: The Death Cure is the ultimate installment on this young-adult trilogy primarily based on the novels of James Dashner, with all three motion pictures being directed by Wes Ball. There are just a few faces who will probably be acquainted to wider audiences in The Death Cure, comparable to Patricia Clarkson (Pieces of April) and Barry Pepper (Saving Private Ryan). The largest identify on the invoice, nonetheless, could also be one who got here up by way of the Maze Runner movies: Dylan O’Brien. O’Brien has performed the Maze Runner’s lead character, Thomas, all through the collection, however not too long ago broke huge by starring reverse Michael Keaton in American Assassin.

The downside with Maze Runner: The Death Cure isn’t that it’s spinoff. The downside is that it’s an entire rip-off of a dozen or so different movies that got here earlier than it. Which is one other means of claiming there’s nary a brand new concept current within the film, which is itself an alternate means of stating the easy however essential proven fact that The Death Cure is boring.

Anyone who has watched cable TV for every week someday within the final ten years will instantly acknowledge the origins of The Death Cure’s secondhand concepts. The opening motion sequence is the bastard love baby of The Fast and the Furious and Mad Max: Fury Road, with somewhat Con Air operating round for good measure. Pieces of Zombieland are scattered about, and there’s even a scene on the halfway mark that feels instantly lifted from Blade Runner 2049—full with eerie, rumbling synth soundtrack—which is particularly disconcerting given the truth that the brand new Blade Runner was simply launched just a few months in the past. Perhaps the filmmakers deserve some credit score for ripping off a brand new film so rapidly, though The Death Cure’s goal demographic is perhaps extra more likely to see this as proof of a mixtape tradition—they’re not “ripping off,” they’re “sampling.”

Maze Runner: The Death Cure options stodgy, workmanlike appearing; low cost, lifeless CGI; and been-there-done-that teen-dystopian storytelling—and does all of it with a outstanding lack of fashion. The movie isn’t precisely a farce or a catastrophe, however it’s one thing the world doesn’t want. We can all watch the Hunger Games after we need angsty teen sci-fi, or Divergent after we wish to slum in that panorama and we’re feeling low cost. Whatever unusual itch these franchises scratch, there are higher selections on the market than the Maze Runner collection.