Misadventures

This was supposed to be a post dedicated to the pointless and plotless Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials. But then I liked this one silly comedy too much so I decided to justify its existence with a short review.

Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials

For me, the only YA series that actually mattered is The Hunger Games. I enjoyed Divergent too for its sheer garbage-quality yet starpower-appealing. The Maze Runner series is okay-ish at best. The first installment was fun but that's it. I mean, it doesn't interest me to follow the story further. It's mediocre, and the all boys cast is just not rewarding enough for me. The series stars Dylan O'Brien as the lead teen, and supported by Ki Hong Lee, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, and Patricia Clarkson. This second installment has my favorite TV characters, Petyr Baelish/Littlefinger aka Aidan Gillen, Gus Fring aka Giancarlo Esposito and Missandei aka Nathalie Emmanuel. Naturally, I would tell you the plot of the movie from this point but I don't have a fucking clue what is going on here or how the writers define the word 'coherence'

Let's get on with the good part. The effects are top-notch, especially when you compare it to recent YA like Divergent series. It is clear that the high production value consumed all the energy to assemble a decent plot. The movie lives up to its title as the characters are constantly running away from something or running towards something or running both from and towards something. Yep, that's it I've ran out of nice things to say. It's easy to see that the film went on a very rushed production that rewrites must've been lost in the schedule. The zombie people also came out of nowhere. I remember jackshit from the first movie, but I'd surely remember if they mentioned people turning into zombies because of the sun. Bro, even Fantastic Four had a plot. I can at least tell people what the story is about. This film is just escape sequence after escape sequence without one uniting arc. Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials: rated 1.5/4


Vacation
Surprised? Yeah this is the film that prompted me to do a double review. I don't know what happened to me. Compared to Scorch Trials, Vacation is a low budget comedy and also with questionable vfx in some scenes. However, what it has is a plot that's involving enough to make me care about the film. As Ed Helms' character Rusty Griswold said, this movie will stand on its own without having the audience know about the original 1983 Vacation, and it sure did. The movie works for me. It stars Ed Helms of The Hangover films, Christina Applegate from Anchorman along with stellar supporting/cameo roles like Chris Hemsworth, Charlie Day, Michael Pena, Norman Reedus, and Keegan Michael-Key. The story is about Rusty who desperately wants to spend time with his family by going on a nostalgia trip to Walley World, a place where his family went on vacation 30 years ago. But like his family 30 years ago, this trip doesn't go well as planned.

If you've seen this movie, you'll see a lot of jokes. At least half of those jokes are too juvenile for me (I'm famously hard to impress with comedy). But those jokes work when they're delivered awesomely by Ed Helms or even Hemsworth. The movie is fun and silly, it's just a light entertainment on a lazy day. It is also moving and has some message to tell to families. For me, when my parents is trying their best, we should support them. It's pretty deep for a film that features Chris Hemsworth with a prosthetic penis stuffed in his underwear. The musical scenes also delivered the best laughs like during the rafting scene or anytime that Seal song is sung. This film might not be among modern comedy greats like The Hangover or Bridesmaids, but it doesn't mean it's not entertaining in its own right. Vacation: rated 2.5/4




SPPS. (super powered post-script)
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is having its best season so far. Five episodes and all are confident, mature hour of television. The same can't be said for Heroes Reborn, which is everything opposite of AoS. On the DC camp, Supergirl is nice. At least the effects are good, and the characters are not annoying or fake, unlike The Flash or Arrow. But if Supergirl is going for the alien-of-the-week type format, I'm outta here.


Up next
I might skip Pan because I'm too busy. But I really wanna see that film.
I'm continuing my streak of watching (financial or critical) duds of 2015 in cinemas, so far Jupiter Ascending, Tomorrowland, Terminator: Genisys and Fantastic Four are on that list.
But surely will see Everest when it comes out on Nov 6.